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Harmony vs. Discord. 



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Harmony v$* Discord 

...THE... 

Theory of Human Progress 

...AND... 

The Solution of the Present Problem. 



*c^ t&* <&* 



BY JOHN J. DAILY. 
h 



Copyright 1900, by John J. Daily. 



Press of Illinois State Register, 
Springfield, 111. 

v. 



6279 



•MttND OOPY, 



63305 



Library of Cong.-esss 

Two Copies Received 
JUN 15 19G0 

Copyright tntry 

first cory. 

2nd Copy Deliver to 

ORDER DIVISION 

JIM 16 1900 



127/3 



To the fflemory of Rev. Edward IflcGlynn. 



So soon as people try honestly to see all they can of any- 
thing, they come to the point where a noble dimness begins. 
They see more than others; but the consequence of their see- 
ing- more is, that they feel they cannot see at all; and the 
more intense their perception, the more the crowd of things 
which they partly see will multiply upon them- -Raskin. 



PREFACE. 



This work is the outgrowth of a long-felt desire to do 
something towards dispelling the confusion of thought re- 
garding political and social relations, which it is clear arises 
from the failure to grasp first principles. The original inten- 
tion was only to place the theories enunciated by Henry 
George in "Progress and Poverty," in a condensed form. But 
in the course of a careful study of his theory of interest, which 
I had been unable to harmonize with first perceptions and 
logical deductions, I discovered its erroneous character. This 
led to a more independent investigation and closer study of 
his theories. I saw that the law of interest as he expressed 
it, not only does not agree with natural perceptions, but is 
erroneous, an incongruity in his philosophy and the molehill 
magnified to the size of a mountain that hides its real great- 
ness and eflSciency from many. And to his failure to per- 
ceive the true law of interest, is largely due his faulty concep- 
tion of the reason for the unstable equilibrium of supply and 
demand, and the cause of commercial depressions. 

But perceiving the indifference with which people have 
from disappointment come to view proposed reforms and the 
general belief that social advance or retrogression is entirely 
within the power of man to control, I was impressed with 
the possible hopelessness of any effort to better the condition 
of man. This led to a deeper study, and to the discovery 
that human progress has been one continual advance, and 
that the forces that compel advancement increase with ad- 
vancement. I saw that what man had gained during his 



4 PREFACE. 

existence upon this earth was knowledge and power — the 
ground work for a future social state — and that conditions 
were not growing worse, from a reformer's standpoint, but 
better. I realized that, though social advance depended more 
on individual effort as we advanced, the dependency of indi- 
vidual happiness on individual effort increased much faster. 
I, then, decided to clear away the doubts and fears re- 
garding social advance, before entering upon the main pur- 
pose of the work. 

The first part of this book, which might be considered as 
preparatory to the second, makes clear that social advance 
has been continuous; that harmony reigns in the efforts and 
relations of men, no less than in all the material universe; 
that all real advantages gained have never been lost, and 
that the growth and decline of what we call civilizations, 
are only the alternating play of the balancing forces of social 
life. Then, following the growth of the present civilization, 
we see how the pressure evolved compelled us to make one 
advance after another; and how the advances in knowledge 
and power, which are capable of great elevation, arc counter- 
balanced by forces that threaten the dissolution of society and 
deprive us of the greater part of their advantages. We see 
that these evil forces, ever growing, are what compels us 
to advance; that suffering is only the penalty of cither wrong- 
effort or no effort at all. 

Then taking up the economic problem and reducing it to 
the simplest form in which it presents itself to our minds, 
thai of the lack of equilibrium between supply and demand. 
The cause of this condition is clearly explained. It points 
unerringly to the remedy — the taxation of land values. Then, 
examining the nature of the value of land, we sec its effective- 
ness. Turning to a consideration of the laws of distribution, 
we see that the single tax will effectually abolish interest 
as a division of wealth and make two divisions of the aggre- 
gate product, namely, rent and wages; the first being ab- 
sorbed by taxation of land valm s, going to meet the expenses 
of government, supplying social necessities and common 



J 



PREFACE. O 

needs-; the latter going to each in the proportion that each 
contributes, through the operation of the law of supply and 
demand. 

Taking up the question of public utilities, we see that 
this is a question which, though it now offers almost insnr 
mmKt table difficulties and on solution, after the j.',»*eat eco 
fforuic problem is settled, its solution will follow as a aalur«i 
sequence. The final chapter shows the true welfare of the 
individual, and its complete harmony with the welfare of 
society. 

This work, though principally intended to clear away 
the incongruities of error that becloud a great truth, is never- 
theless a clear and complete, though brief, exposition of that 
truth. It contains the germ of a philosophy which I have 
dared hope, with the aid and encouragement this effort might 
bring, to do something towards developing. I present it to 
the thoughtful consideration of my fellow-man, confident that 
as a result of several months' intense effort, it contains 
thought, though perhaps poorly expressed, for which the 
world hungers. 



CONTENTS. 



PART FIRST. 



THE THEORY OF HUMAN PROGRESS. 

Chapter I. — Why We Do Not See the Harmony of Social 
Relations. 

Chapter II.— The Object of Social Life. 

Chapter III. — The Order of the Accumulation of Knowl- 
edge. I 

Chapter IV. — How Inequalities Are Evolved. 

Chapter V. — The Evolution of the Counter Forces of So- 
cial Life — Its Growth. 

Chapter VI. — The Growth of the Present Civilization. 



PART SECOND. 



- 



THE SOLUTION OF THE PRESENT PROBLEM. 

Chapter I. — The Present Problem. 

Chapter II. — Demand and Supply. 

Chapter III. — The Remedy. 

Chapter IV. — The Laws of the Distribution of Wealth. 

Chapter V.— The Effects of the Single Tax. 

Chapter VI. — The Arteries and Nerves of Society. 

Conclusion. 






CHAPTER I. 



WHY WE DO NOT SEE THE HARMONY OF SOCIAL 

RELATIONS. 

Discord is harmony unrecognized.— Pope. 

Harmony is a condition of order and agreement in the 
relation of things in forming a whole or in the accomplish- 
ment of an end. It expresses the idea of orderly arrangement, 
of concerted action, of the perfect adaption of parts to a 
whole or to an end. 

Discord expresses the opposite idea; of conflict in action, 
of the want of any system in arrangement, of disconcert, and 
it presupposes no end or object. What may seem discordant 
when we do not understand the object of the arrangement 
or its system or movement, when we come to understand the 
design, or the object of the arrangement, we recognize the 
harmony and adaption of parts or movements. 

During severe storms when the elements are most vio- 
lent, when the rain is driven in sheets and the wind seems 
in a fury, if there is anything at any time in a. discordant 
state, it is then and there. Yet we are taught that it is but 
a movement of the elements, a change in their combinations 
and relative positions in obedience to a law; that the earth 
as it moves through space occupies various positions in re- 
gard to other bodies, which causes variations in the arrange- 
ment of her elements, particularly noticeable in her atmos- 
phere. Thus, what has seemed to former generations and 
to many even now in the fury of the elements, as is often 
said, the utmost confusion, is, when we come to view it in its 
broader relations, only an orderly movement of the elements 
in obedience to an external force. 

The result of all observations and discoveries is the con- 
firmation of the belief in the orderly and harmonious arrange- 
ment and movement of the universe and the various parts 



8 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



into which, for classification and analyzation, we mentally 
divide it. What, when first observed, very often seemed a 
striking exception to this uniform order, when viewed in its 

more extended relations, has invariably been found to belong- 
to the harmonious arrangement of things. The knowledge 
of the relations of the material universe has become so per- 
fected by the successive delving of man for ages, though all 
is not understood, it is universally agreed that the movements 
and relations of matter are uniform and orderly, and all is 
and moves in harmony, and discord is only in seeming be- 
cause of our failure to comprehend more extended relations. 
And can we not safely infer from this, that in the world of 
mind there is, also, an order, an harmonious movement, and 
that discord, the seeming want of order, arises from our 
failure to comprehend more extended relations, or the pur- 
pose or intent? 

To many. I believe the vast majority today, it seems that 
there is no order in their relations and movements; it seems 
that they are tossed hither and thither, as if by an angry sea. 
This would infer no object in human existence as a whole, 
or various and conflicting objects. It might infer an object to 
individual existence, but not the orderly and harmonious 
relation between individuals which, from what we know of 
the relations of things of lower order, we may safely infer 
exists. But more than this, before mankind had had any 
knowledge of the harmonious relations of the material uni- 
verse, of which his physical being is a part, and perhaps from 
the origin of man, the co-operative and harmonious relations 
of mankind have in some degree been recognized. Though 
this has often been forgotten or ignored, the effects of these 
lapses have always been to compel the re-recognition of the 
fact. 

That there is a like order and arrangement in the rela- 
tions of mankind as is recognized in the world of matter, 
seems not to have been thought of, or at least, to my knowl- 
edge, no one has ever yet attempted to trace out the order 
of such relations. Yet, since in all the material world we 
arc cognizant of harmony and order, can we believe that in 
man, in which the material is linked with the spiritual, har- 
mony, order and agreement of relations, ends? 

Would this not be a destruction of all the harmony that 
underlies it? Order and harmony cannot end in disorder 
and discoid, nor disorder and discord result in order and har- 
mony, any more than a continuation of right angles can ever 
produce a triangle. Is it not. as in the material world, what 



V 



> 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 9 

at first seems an exception to the universal order, when 
viewed in its more extensive relations is seen to harmonize 
perfectly? Is it not that in the relations of mankind (social 
relations) we do not see the harmony and agreement because 
we do not comprehend the object of social life? 

Tn Astronomy, before the acceptance of the Copernican 
theory, when speculation as to the movements of the heavenly 
bodies was very unsatisfactory, this failure of explanation 
was due to the failure to comprehend that the earth was round 
and in rapid motion. It was at that time incomprehensible 
that the earth, instead of being the hub of the universe, as 
it were, about which all other bodies moved in attendance, 
was a mere attendant and insignificant in size. 

So it is today in social relations. In the various social 
adjustments we recognize no order or continuous movement, 
because we fail to comprehend any other object in social life 
than the satisfaction of human desire. Like the astronomers 
of old who believed that the earth was the center of all things, 
we have supposed that because desire is the impelling force 
in all human effort and its satisfaction the end, the only 
object of social life is the greatest satisfaction of desire or the 
satisfaction of desire with the least effort. Though we have 
recognized the growth of desire with the ability to satisfy it, 
we have, in a large measure, failed to note that this growth 
is due to conditions that are beyond the control of man. 
Though the satisfaction* of desire is the object of all human 
effort, it is not the object of human existence, but merely a 
means by which that object is to be attained; therefore it 
could not be the object of social adjustments. 

From the failure to perceive this have arisen the many 
speculations regarding previous social adjustments and what 
are called civilizations, which resulted in the conclusion that 
human progress may advance and then recede, and in much 
confusion in that branch of social science — Political Economy, 
which it is the purpose Of this work to, in some degree, dispel. 



10 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE OBJECT OF SOCIAL LIFE. 

If there has been in social life only discord, a turbulent: 
state and no order or arrangement, then there is no ground 
for hope for a future social state in which order will reign; 
for disorder cannot produce order, nor discord harmony. But 
if, on the contrary, the various social adjustments can be 
shown to have been conducive to some end or object, in that 
will be conclusive proof of an order to an end. And, though 
there may have been conflict, it was but the rearrangement 
of the social units, the necessary pressure of a change in di- 
rection or velocity to satisfy new requirements. 

If the various social adjustments have been for the ac- 
complishment of an object or conducive to an end, there 
must be tangible evidence of such. Is there not something 
to which all ages have contributed and which, alone through 
all the vicissitudes of social life, has not been destroyed? 

That there is must be patent to *all at a glance. It is 
the great body or stock of knowledge and the power that 
comes of it, the origin of which antedates all history, either 
written or traditional. 

The acquiring of knowledge, in the nature of things, 
must have begun very early in the period of man's existence 
and progressed far before, even, the earliest traditions. There 
are so many things, so common to us and which seem so 
natural to know, that we of this day are apt to forget that 
they had to be discovered. How to produce fire or invent a 
way of communicating thought were, no doubt, as difficult 
as how to utilize steam, or many other discoveries that seem 
so greal beeaus< their use is less common. 

Thar this body of knowledge was continually augmented 
and was never lost is plain if we consider of what it really 
consists, Primarily, it consists of just such knowledge as 
savages possess, such as enabled (hem, to increase their com- 
fort, convenience and welfare. This, from the nature of 
man's desires and inclinations, could be lost only with the 
extinction of the race. Nor was it at any time lessened. It 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 11 

may at times have been available to less numbers than at some 
previous time, which would lessen its advantages, but there 
is no evidence that any real knowledge, i. e., discoveries of 
nature's secrets, was ever lost after having been once grasped. 
On the contrary, since knowledge is power — power to in- 
crease satisfactions — and power is what man has always 
sought, first to command nature, and second, if the oppor- 
tunity offers, command his fellow-man; the peoples or tribes 
with the greatest amount of knowledge were always the most 
powerful, and, therefore, could not have been overwhelmed 
and their knowledge destroyed with them. The preservation 
of knowledge is only a logical deduction from 1 the law of the 
survival of the fittest. ' 

The decline and fall of the Roman civilization, as it is 
called, the latest and, perhaps on that account, the best 
known of extinct civilizations, is spoken of as being accom- 
panied by the decline of knowledge. Yet, it was not knowl- 
edge that was lost with the breaking up of this civilization. 
It was merely the advantages in its application in production, 
which comes from an extensive co-operation of men in the 
effort to satisfy their desires. The great monuments of the 
architectural skill of past civilizations are not so much an 
evidence of a high degree of knowledge as of a wide co- 
operation and a great concentration of effort. 

The Roman civilization was not destroyed by the in- 
vading barbarians. They merely destroyed the physical evi- 
dence of it. It had already disintegrated because the advan- 
tages of an extensive co-operation, instead of being utilized 
in advancement, thereby increasing their power, were squan- 
dered in building monuments to vulgar pride and vanity. The 
co-operation of the people of the Roman empire became less 
and less, until of that proud civilization there was nothing 
left but the merest form 1 ; and that fell an easy prey to the 
invaders who, though having not the physical evidence of 
so much knowledge, were no doubt as far advanced in the 
knowledge of nature. 

There can be no doubt that there was much knowledge 
of the doings of men lost with the different civilizations to 
which they belonged. But this was an advantage rather 
than a disadvantage, merely the destruction of the rubbish 
that the useful might not be lost in it. In the gathering of 
any valuable thing there is necessarily much dross gathered 
with it. which must be separated. This is most strikingly 
true of knowledge. And the real knowledge, that which is 
alwavs useful and valuable, is and in all times has been the 



12 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

knowledge of nature — nature's laws which in recent times 
have been classified and systemized, constituting the sciences 
of today, the basis of our present greatness. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE ORDER OF THE ACCUMULATION OF KNOWL- 
EDGE, 

That social adjustments have been conducive to the ac- 
quisition of a perfect knowledge of nature must be clear to 
any who will trouble themselves to make a systematic inves- 
tigation. To begin, there are two distinct divisions of the 
process or method by which our fund of knowledge was and 
is being acquired; first, the original discoveries; and second, 
the combining, classifying and systeinizing of these discov- 
eries, in order to utilize, or more fully utilize them. 

The utilization of original discoveries naturally followed 
their discovery; but beyond the most rudimentary classifi- 
cation and systematization, which is necessary to any ex- 
tended use, the one was well rounded out before the other 
was well begun. The discovery of the truths that underlie 
the present knowledge of nature embraced in the sciences, 
required a social state of extensive co-operation. It required 
a state in which communication was comparatively close, yet 
extending over a vast area. History abounds with records 
of the various and fruitless speculations of men regarding the 
movements of the heavenly bodies that produce the phen- 
omena of day and night; but until the discovery and demon- 
stration of the fact the earth was round and in rapid motion, 
the deductions were indefinite, inconclusive and fruitless, 
l'.ui the discovery of this truth, which was the climax of all 
the discoveries that preceded it and, alone, made possible 
all the succeeding discoveries, required an extensive knowl- 
edge of the earth's surface. This required a considerable 
advance in the arts and in skill in the application of the rude 
knowledge possessed; because an extensive knowledge of the 
earth's surface could be acquired only through communica- 
tion between men. extending over vast areas; and this could 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 13 

be sustained only by the wide co-operation made possible 
by the advance in methods of production and transportation 
of products. 

It would be impossible for man to conceive of the 
spherical form of the earth, of its rotary movement and its 
rapid flight through space, were each to make independent 
investigations or were the investigations confined to any 
locality. In truth we cannot see how this discovery could 
have been made in any other than the way it was. When 
society had grown to such a stage that the vastness of what 
was known of the earth came to be realized, it led to specu- 
lation as to what was beyond the seemingly greater vastness 
that bounded man's horizon. And man continually improv- 
ing his ways of exploration, the ultimate demonstration of 
the truth of the theory deduced from observations covering 
a wide area, of the form of the earth, was only a natural se- 
quence. 

This discovery marked an era in the acquisition of knowh 
edge. Up to that time, leaving out such knowledge as 
prophecies, revelations and history, which cannot be con- 
sidered in this -treatise, it consisted of extensions of such 
knowledge as savages possess. No classification or system- 
ization was possible, for the reason that no fundamental prin- 
ciples were grasped. That the sciences were not born before 
then is not any more strange than that a son is not born 
before his father. To be sure, there was what was called 
Astrology, which was supposed to be very important and, 
under the name of Astronomy, was first advanced to some- 
thing like perfection, and as a result of the demonstration of 
this new theory. Tint besides this it gave a direction and 
certitude to thought that was impossible before. It quick- 
ened perceptions and made observations more acute, which 
resulted in such discoveries of natural forces as made possible 
the combination, classification and systemization of knowledge 
that constitute the sciences of today. 

Rut the classification and systemization of knowledge 
and its consequent application did not immediately succeed 
the discovery of this truth. Before that time observations 
were, at best, superficial. This discovery drew aside the cur- 
tain for deeper and closer observations; this being the order 
in which we perceive things — that which is closest is the last 
observed. Man turned from observing the earth in its re- 
lations to the universe, to observing the relations of the mat- 
ter and forces of the earth. This was only the beginning of 
those deeper observations that involve the power of reason- 



1-A HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

ing. It still continues without intermission; and the classi- 
fication, systemizing and consequent application of these dis- 
coveries began only during the present century. 

That there was of necessity an order in the acquisition 
of knowledge, admits of no doubt. That order was from a 
knowledge of things remote, to a knowledge of things near 
to us; from a knowledge that is of little advantage directly, 
to that which is of great advantage; from that which does not 
increase man's power and command of nature, to that which 
does. This is the order in which things are presented to man, 
and is the only order in which it was possible to acquire a 
thorough knowledge of nature. It is the same order in which 
we acquire our rudimentary education. 

The motives of the pursuit of knowledge, also, underwent 
a gradual change. At first it was pursued to satisfy that in- 
herent and unquenchable desire to know, with which some 
are endowed, but as the advantages of the application of 
knowledge began to be realized, it was pursued for the power 
That was gained by its use. Thus knowledge has become 
more diffused with its growth; each succeeding branch of 
knowledge, as it was developed, was of greater use. to man. 

The knowledge of nature is, by the constitution of things, 
divided into three distinct branches or divisions: 1, the rela- 
tions and movements of the heavenly bodies; 2, the relations 
of the elements of which the earth is composed, which is sub- 
divided into many branches, and the forces of the earth; 3, 
the relations of man in association — social relations. 

This is the order in which they were acquired, and in- 
versely, the order of their advantage to mankind. A knowl- 
edge of the first branch resulted in no immediate advantage 
to man, and was pursued to satisfy a feeling of something akin 
to idle curosity. The second resulted in a. great increase in 
man's power to satisfy desire; yet it leaves desire as unsatis- 
fied, if not more so, than ever; and it was pursued largely for 
its power to satisfy desire, Tt was pursued from motives of 
self interests and with but little regard for general interests. 
The third and last of these tranches has only reached the 
stage of classifying and systemizing of the phenomena ob- 
served; therefore its application is for the future. 

There can he no doubt that the results of the application, 
this last branch of knowledge will be to realize the full ex- 
pectation of the results of the second. Tt would give to our 
fund of knowledge the definiteness ami certitude that conies 
from completeness. Tt would make knowledge seem the un- 
mixed good that it really is. And as the force that impelled 



IS 

HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

man to acquire and utilize the second branch ^greater 
and more certain than that which nnpelled him t^ th b fl » , 
wp nnv safelv infer, and observations will confirm tne miei 
Jnoe that the force which will compel man to acquire and 
utmze the tmrd and most important branch will be irresisti- 

ble ' in the succeeding chapters we shall see how well was 
man adapted to his environment to acquire tins knowledge. 



CHAPTER IV. 



HOW INEQUALITIES ARE EVOLVED. 

Man is by nature a social creature. That he always 
chooses association in preference to *«^ »^ w £^ 
Tmt during his existence there has been no time when ne 
foiild'li "Separately and independently of Ins fel ow^mam 
Not onlv have there always been mutual advantages m tne 
a^ocialU ? or co-operation ol effort in ^Jn-eased power o 
«a+i«fvino- desire but the conditions presented by external 
natu ^nrnde it a condition of existence. There have always 
existed with man, if not before him, living creatures better 
po uinne^bv nature with physical strength and ability to pro- 
XXmsirefwith subsistence, with J ^^"g 
hnndPd could not cope. So we see that, thougn aaapieu 
by nature for social life, man was placed under conditions 
that provided no alternative-except destruction. 

When man lived bv taking what nature spontaneously 
Droduced as'n fish tng,' hunting and gathering fruits, nuts, 
etc th^Vwas little need of association except for protec- 
tion-there cTld have been no differences in condition except 
those resulting from superior natural powers, which do not 
depend u on associated effort. But when man ceased to de- 
fend upon tlfe spontaneous offerings of nature and began 
the^nXation and growing of crops and animals for food 
dothing and shelter, and shaping tools for increasing ; the ^ase 
and efficiency of his effort, nature increased the differences 
betwwn men in regard to the power of satisfying desire, by 
Prelen^ <* different desirability, such t as pro- 

rctiveness of soil, healthful ness of climate, etc. The most 



16 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



favorable opportunities offered by nature would most 
naturally be taken possession of by those possessing superior 
natural powers. Thus augmenting the natural difference in 
power of satisfying desire. 

And here arises another cause of inequality, one which 
depends entirely on the association of effort. By associated 
effort or co-operation, as it is properly called, I mean not 
merelj- an uniting of physical force in the performance of a 
difficult task, but the co-operation resulting - from the special- 
ization of industry, the division of labor and the exchange of 
products, thereby not only utilizing to the fullest the various 
adaptions of nature in soil, climate and so forth, but bring- 
ing out and developing the various inclinations and powers 
in different individuals. As exchange grows in volume and 
extent, locations which are most accessible from all points 
or locations that participate in such exchanges, offer great 
advantages over locations less accessible. And of the less 
accessible locations there are, of course, differences. But 
these centers of their respective localities, bound together by 
various exchanges, are, in a certain sense, tributary to the 
larger centers, because through them is offered the easiest 
way of carrying on the various exchanges. 

These advantageous locations or exchange centers are 
primarily due to their accessibility from many points by 
means of waterways, etc., but as other ways of transporting 
products came into use. such as higways and railroads, the 
advantages of these locations were greatly augmented, be- 
cause the tendency of all improvements in ways and means 
of transportation is to bring all mankind into closer relations, 
not to create new centers, but to increase the advantages of 
the old ones. 

The exclusive possession of these centers through which 
exchange (lows, carries with it the extreme power of life or 
death to co-operation; since without the use of these centers 
exchange would be impossible. But added to these sources 
of inequality, when the necessity of government arose, it was 
naturally vested in those who possessed, in the largest de- 
gree, those other advantages, who are ever prone !<> use this 
authority without restraint to increase those other advan- 
tages. 

And thus it is. that nature endowing man with differences 
in natural powers with which to satisfy his desires, has in- 
creased tin' inequalities resulting therefrom by offering un- 
equal opportunities from which desire might be satisfied; and 
when in the course of the natural growth in numbers of man, 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



17 



exchange grew up another source of inequality arose which 
increased with the increase of exchange. 

It is from this latter source that spring the inequalities 
that are, at this day, a menace to social life, but from it also 
springs social life itself. Were there no exchange, there could 
be no social relations and no social life; there would be but 
little communication between man and man, and there could 
be no advance in the means to provide comfort and safety. 

But the various social adjustments are unintelligible un- 
less we consider the variations in human nature. There is 
ever present the possibility of it sinking to such a low stage 
as to leave but little more distinguishable difference between 
man and the higher animals than the physical form; and the 
capability of it rising to such a height, of acquiring such 
qualities and powers, as to seem more different from the un- 
civilized man than he from the higher animals. We must 
consider that inherent quality of the human mind, the inclina- 
tion to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before. 
And as mankind is, as it were, ever traveling an untrodden 
path, penetrating an unknown future, there is always present 
the natural willingness to follow whoever will boldly ad- 
vance. The future seems so dark and dangerous, though 
driven by an irresistible force, we are ever hesitating. If 
difficulties arise, we would look to others for their solution. 

But in regard to the characteristics of human nature, 
we may divide mankind into two classes: those who would 
lead, and those who would follow. Each arises from oppo- 
site views of the relative powers of man. The first springs 
from the consciousness of comparatively superior powers, 
which fires the inherent feeling of supremacy in the scale of 
material existence, blunts the sense of dependency on nature 
and swells to inordinate proportions the estimation of self. 
The second, springing from the consciousness of comparative- 
ly inferior powers, impresses keenly the feeling of weakness 
and dependency on nature of mankind, which largely over- 
shadows the inherent sense of superiority in the scale of ma- 
terial existence and begets a spirit that would glady depend 
upon others for guidance. 

But wherever there is this spirit of dependency there is, 
and by all accounts always hafc been, existing with it, the 
spirit that would utilize this dependency for its own aggran- 
dizement. The powerful have always usurped the rights of 
the weak as the resistance to these encroachments became 
weaker or the desire that prompted them became stronger. 



18 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

Though the restraints of conscience may have always 
tempered the relations of men, they have had so little influ- 
ence in fixing social relations that we mav safelv ignore them 
here. 



CHAPTER V. 



< 



THE EVOLUTION OF THE COUNTER FORCES OF 
SOCIAL LIFE AND ITS GROWTH. 

Desire is the impelling force, and its satisfaction the 
end, of all human effort. We cannot conceive of a person 
making the least conscious effort, except to satisfy the feel- 
iug of desire. Though desire is the force that impels to effort, 
the effort is not measured by the strength of the desire; but 
by the sum of energy, both mental and physical, that is at 
the command of the subject of the desire. 

The result of the effort depends not only on the sum of 
energy at command, but also on the resistance offered by ex- 
ternal nature to our efforts. This resistance is the force that 
maintains order in all human actions. It is to social relations 
what gravity is to the world of matter. Though it is this that 
makes effort necessary, it is what is so necessary to order and 
certainty. 

It has often been said that man is the unsatisfied animal 
— desire increasing with the possibility of satisfying it — which, 
to me, means only that until the object of social evolution is 
attained this force will be increasing. It is not because of 
the fear of weariness that man seeks the satisfaction of 
desire along the line of least resistance, i. e., in the way he 
thinks will require the least effort, but because by so doing he 
can more fully satisfy his desires, or obtain a greater num- 
ber of satisfactions. And seeking the satisfaction of his de- 
sire along the lines of least resistance, it impels man to the 
exchange of products, which produces the social body. The 
bonds that bind men together and form the social body are 
the increased satisfaction made possible by exchanging. It 
is to the social body what the centripetal force is to the mate- 
rial universe. 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 19 

But tlie inequalities with regard to satisfying desire, born 
of the unequal natural powers, growing with the growth of 
exchange and developing that quality of human nature, the 
tendency to satisfy desire at the expense of another's effort 
when that way seems to require the least effort, operates 
as a counterforce to the advantages of exchanging and the 
formation of a social body. When the advantages of ex- 
changing are absorbed by one party to the exchange, the 
incentive to exchange on the part of the other ceases. This 
social force is to society as the centrifugal force is to the 
universe. 

Here, then, are the balancing forces of social evolution; 
tbe mutual advantages of co-operation, operating to draw 
men into closer association, being the centripetal force of 
society; and tne tendency of the strong to, in various ways, 
gratify their desires at the expense of the effort of their 
weaker or less exacting fellows, operates to weaken the ties 
of association, to lessen co-operation by lessening the incen- 
tive and is the centrifugal force of society. 

That the mutual advantages of exchange was the force 
that brought mankind into closer and wider association, has 
been generally recognized; but this other — the counter force 
in social growth, the peculiar qualities or characteristics of 
human nature evolved by the conditions under which it falls 
— is generally ignored. About the only importance that in 
current thought attaches to it is an evidence of the weakness 
of human nature. But weakness as here used is a very 
vague term. Such terms are merely relative; and what 
standard of strength is thought of when we speak of human 
nature as weak? This remark it would not be worth while 
to make were it not an example of the explanations of many 
phenomena of human nature which are generally accepted 
as so complete; yet it is only showing the relation between 
the phenomena observed and some other much less under- 
stood. 

The failure to consider this force as a factor in social 
development does much to make the order of social develop- 
ment so unintelligible. We have looked upon this only as an 
impediment to human happiness; or if, perchance, we are of 
the favored, we may gratefully accept it as an inscrutable 
decree of Providence. But whatever be our conclusions they 
are at present anything but harmonious. 

But to trace out the various movements resulting from 
the action of these counterbalancing forces of social develop- 



20 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

nient, is the task, more difficult than merely pointing them out, 
to which we will now turn. 

The force that impels to association is that attribute 
of human nature, desire. Therefore, the strength of the 
bonds of association depends on the increased power of satis- 
fying desire, that is due to association. And this depends on 
the improvements in methods of production and ways and 
means of transporting products. 

But the counter force to association, the tendency to sat- 
isfy desire at the expense of another's effort, might be classed 
with the human passions. Desire growing with the ability 
to satisfy it, the strength of this force depends on, 1, the 
opportunities offered, in the way of tolerating aggression; 
and 2, the strength of the bonds of association. It is 
the bonds of association that gives birth to and supports 
this counterforce; therefore, its strength is necessarily within 
the strength of the bonds of association. 

As exchange grew in volume and extent, tending to bring 
greater numbers into closer association, this counterforce, 
evolved as exchange grew, besides tending to drive those 
who were deprived of the advantages of exchange in other 
directions in seeking the satisfaction of desire, by presenting 
the extremes of poverty and affluence, of misery and apparent 
happiness, furnished an extraordinary incentive to exertion, 
and the improvement of conditions. Added to this w r ere the 
rivalries and jealousies engendered, w'hich, though often 
resulting destructively, w r e cannot doubt were a 
means of advancement. And that condition among mankind 
generally was maintained, that is most conducive to the 
multiplication of numbers — the fullest development of the 
animal powers — which, as we have seen, was an important 
factor in attaining results. 

Tt seems that these are the scourges with which man is 
driven on. When the growth of association ceases, by reason 
of the cessation of improvements in ways and means of pro- 
duction or otherwise, this aggressive tendency, much like blind 
passion, crows until it either forces society to an increased 
productiveness and a wider association, thereby strengthening 
the bonds of association, or it dissolves the bonds of associa- 
tion and destroys the source of its being. But the various 
parts, tending ever to unite, form other bodies or are united 
with other bodies, always evolving these same forces; the 
results, varying with Ihe conditions, depend on where the re- 
sistance that is offered to the pressure is the weakest. 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 21 

As improvements in methods and processes of produc- 
tion and exchanging grow, exchanging bodies merge into 
one another, forming larger bodies with correspondingly 
greater centers and forces, pressing men to their utmost to 
provide means to gratify not only their own desires, but to 
satisfv the the ever-increasing demands of those who con- 
trol the current of exchanges, by the possession Of all the 
advantageous locations, and wield the power of government 
by which they are enabled to exact tribute by taxation devices 
from the very extremities of the dependent bodies. And this 
attracting to those centers, as well as developing within them, 
the highest skill and talent and the greatest culture, results 
in all the outward appearances of a great civilization. 

But passion is blind! It destroys itself. 

When the power to satisfy the increasing demands of 
wanton luxury and gross extravagance ceases to grow, blind 
centralized power hurries to its own destruction by making in- 
creasing drafts on the reserve energy, thus destroying the 
source of its power. The co operating body partially disin- 
tegrates or merges into other bodies. The visible force, the or- 
ganized government, falls into decay or is overwhelmed by 
seeinimrlv weaker forces; and only the product of ingenuity 
and skill, the great structures and monuments of pride and 
vanitv remain. 

This, in brief, is the course of all dead civilizations, eacn 
of which' exceeded the preceding one in wealth, grandeur and 
extent; the result of a wider and closer co-operation caused by 
the advancement in ways and means of production and ex- 

chan°e. 

Many authors bemoan the losses to mankind attendant 
on the decay of ancient civilizations. But, what was lost? 
Merelv the talent and skill that accompanies and is attracted 
by great wealth and power. Did art and literature sink.' 
Art and literature are only accompaniments of leisure and 
refinement, and these depend on the ease with which other 
desires mav be satisfied. Did knowledge wane? Knowledge. 
Of what? ' Merely of the doings of men, of the conceits and 
conspiracies of kings and the vapid imaginations of pretend- 
ing philosophers. 'Twas well, perhaps, for mankind if much 
of the rubbish that passed for knowledge was destroyed. 
There is no evidence that anv of the advantages in the battle 
with nature was lost with their fall. Some of their efficiency 
in use was lost by the decline of co-operation; but the power 
over nature, once acquired, was never lost. Co-operation 
sufficient to Utilize these advantages in some degree would 



99 

** HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



eiT T J-° faCt lhat each ^ceeding civilization 

exceeded the preceding one in wealth, power and extent is a 

22 md ™*™ of ^ growth of the power and command of na 
rfSiiro/ kno fJedge and improvements acquired by one 
Civilization was the foundation for the succeeding one The 
ruins ot ancient civilizations, the wonderful feats of en- 
ture? 2 T Skl iv exM)ited in tae erection of the great struc- 
ll?JJ i T thG F ost £ P rominent evidence of their having 
"ti f - G W ° rks 0f talent and art that adorned them" 
are but the piling up, as it were, of the efforts of man bv the 

Sniom ° ftered by natUFe t0 the exteDSi0n of his ToweJand 

fovo^nh^T^ thG alternati »S V^J of the balancing 
forces of social life, was evolved a co-operating bod y extend 

of g thJ e J a P + r r tiC ^ a " ° f What tben could ha ™ been known 
ot the earth; which made possible the discoverv of the true 
relation of the earth to the universe, furnishing a basis for 
investigations that have resulted in the present social state 
witn all its powers. 

The adaption of man to his environment is clearly seen 
when we consider the object attained. But for the light it 
vvill throw on present questions, as well as showing the pecu- 
har human characteristics that were developed and utilized 
in social evolution, let us follow the growth of the present 

wnShl ™ "ST n hat m ° r ? Cl ° Se1 ^ In one Particular ?o 
which I would call especial attention, it differs from the one 
it succeeds: in that, force was successful in bringing all man- 
kind into one co-operation; in this, force has been unsuccessful 
m preventing the growth of co-operation 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE GROWTH OF THE PRESENT CIVILIZATION. 

When the insatiable greed of centralized power had de- 
stroyed the extensive co-operation which was the basis of 
the strength and grandeur of the Roman employ Sing 
the energies of the dependent co-operative bodies through 
monopolizing the advantages of exchange and levvin* taxes 
and tributes through exerting the poters of ZnS 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 23 

that once grand and powerful organization withered like a 
tender flower in autumn's early frosts. Its power waned, as 
by its over-reaching greed it paralyzed exchange and broke 
up communication, until there was left of what we call a 
great civilization only the rotten core. And that was spared 
the agony of a gradual decline by the invasion of the north- 
ern races; and at the same time, the, to the future, dangerous 
debris, the floating derelict of the old civilization, was re- 
moved. In this way the field was cleared for a new evolu- 
tion of social forces. Mankind was reduced to primitive 
equality with all the advantages of the useful knowledge and 
power that was acquired through all the previous social evo- 
lutions. 

As co-operation again grew up over the vast area over 
which Rome had extended her dominion, new centers were 
developed and with corresponding political powers. As they 
came in contact with one another through the extension of 
exchanges, each viewed with jealousy and envy any extension 
of the other's influence, and each sought to restrict the fieia 
of co-operation of the others. Natural advantages were lost 
sio-ht of; each co-operative body or nation (m the early growth 
of the present civilization they were identical) sought to ex- 
tend its own exchanges and, in every manner possible, re- 
strain the exchanges of its neighbors.* This led to many 
absurd theories as to policies of national welfare, such as im- 
posing restrictions on the exchange of products and, even, 
attempting to regulate the movements of men. Yet to those 
who became possessed of all the natural and social advan- 
tages through the development of the inequalities peculiar 
to social growth, and in whom were vested the powers of gov- 
ernment, it was not strange or absurd, but, on the contrary, 
it was onlv natural that each power should guard against any 
encroachment of its field of co-operation, since its strength 
depended upon the extent of the use of the commercial ad- 
vantages that were possessed by the governing class. And 
this class saw well enough that the power, not to say privilege, 
of governing must naturally follow the centralization of co- 
operation; therefore, each 'government strove, though per- 
haps not wisely, to secure this advantage. 

The value of the natural advantages, monopolized by 
the powerful, depended on the extensiveness of their use in 
co-operation, and any extension of the exchanges of rival 

* This same jealousy and rivalry exists today tetween f ex ^T^ P nf an^'th^DOS 11 - 
the force with which it operates is much less-the powers of government and the pos- 
session of natural advantages are more separated. 



24 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

co-operative bodies within their domain would, of course, 
lessen the value of these advantages. Therefore, the power 
of government was used to hinder any interchange of products 
that would narrow the field of exchange of its respective cen- 
ters, however advantageous such exchange would be to the 
dependency that would make it. Tins checking the natural 
flow of exchanges, in some degree hampered co-operation, but 
it gave to the forces of social advancement that stimulus 
that only rivalry can give. 

That governments sought to hinder only the importation 
of products and did not hinder their exportation, but en- 
couraged it in various ways, was due to that perplexing 
phenomenon that presents itself when social growth has well 
begun, the excess of labor and labor products over the demand 
for them. 

The explanation most confidently offered for this con- 
dition was that there was an insufficiency of stock (capital) 
devoted to supplying tools, material and subsistence to em- 
ploy all the labor. But this is one of those explanations 
that is no less perplexing - than that which it is supposed to 
make clear. The question, why there should be an insuffici- 
ency of capita] i stock) devoted to supplying tools, material 
and subsistence to employ all the labor, is no more clear than 
why there should be an excess of labor. And now, when 
a superabundance of capital makes this explanation unten- 
able, the reason is supposed to be the insufficiency of money 
with which to exchange products, or that it always has been 
that way, which is more consistent with facts. But the true 
explanation of this phenomenon is that the riches of the 
powerful did not and do not consist chiefly of products of 
labor, but of those things the possession of which Avill com- 
mand great quantities of labor — the source of these products, 
the centers of exchange (land) and the avenues of exchange. 
These cannot be increased in quantity as they cannot be pro- 
duced, though their value, the power to command labor, 
continually increases. The effort of those who could com- 
mand moie of the products of labor than they had immediate 
use for. was to exchange the surplus for land. Therefore, 
when many were making this effort, they would produce this 
paradoxical condition; when the scramble for riches is well 

begun this phenomenon of superabundance of labor products 
and enforced idleness is always present. 

In a subsequent chapter I shall more fully explain this 
lack of balance between supply and demand; my object here 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 25 

being to show why the various governments made distinctions 
in exchanges, and its results. 

AVhen the rich, or any one, had command of more of the 
products of labor than they had immediate use for and they 
could not be readily exchanged for those things that merely 
command labor — land, etc., there was, of course, a desire to 
exchange them for the most desirable forms of labor pro- 
ducts, those that were least subject to decay or deterioration 
in quality or value, — the precious metals. This with their 
small volume compared to their value, probably led to their 
adoption as a medium of exchange. But, however that may 
have been, their being a universal medium of exchange made 
them, in a society where there was an excess of labor pro- 
ducts, a more desirable form of wealth to hold. And when 
a surplus of labor products was present, which was nearly 
always the case, those who commanded that surplus as well 
as exercising the powers of government, in their effort to ex- 
change the more perishable for the less perishable form of 
products, offered encouragement to the exportation of the 
former, and imposed restrictions on their importation, hoping 
to secure in exchange, the precious metals. 

To this was due the belief that for a long time prevailed, 
that all wealth consisted of the precious metals. And for a 
long time the scramble and search for them overshadowed all 
other endeavors. Even today, the "idolatry of gold" is some- 
thing more than a mere figure of speech. 

As exchange grew and rivalries of the exchange centers, 
which were also the seats of the respective political powers, 
became more intense, the rivalry for the extension of ex- 
changes, i. e., the enlargement of each respective co-operation, 
and, therefore, power, became a scramble to get possession 
of the precious metals. The possession of much gold and 
silver was an evidence of power and distinction among na- 
tions as well as individuals; it afforded ease and luxury; it 
commanded respect, esteem, admiration and, even, fear; and, 
in a state of society where great numbers were in the most 
bitter and degrading poverty, (a condition that is mercifully 
less keenly felt by those who experience it than by those who 
only fear it) it would seem to many the prerequisite to a state 
of bliss. To secure the precious metals, commerce was ex- 
tended, every part of the earth to which access could be had 
was searched, dangers were braved and difficulties overcome, 
invention was stimulated and great improvements in the nav- 
igation of the seas, the only way then known of extensive ex- 
ploration, were made. And when what was thought to be 



26 



HARMON? VS. DISCORD. 



the whole dry *^^£^jg^-FJ£« 

effort to satisfy a desire that .only gre^ ^ration was 

it increaseA; when it seemed that the ^eaa y ^^ 

reached, that Hie movements of m. m we il c ^^ 

limits by a seemingly l»»umll^c-xt it ot watey ^ ^ 
curiosity was aroused a ^°. ^ a + that time had bounded his 
beyond the great seas ^^^tiat^ill not be satisfied 
movements. The something m ^anthat wr ^ 

urged him on; and. as spe jcqtatwn ^^^ J adventur e, the 
tion, as adventure excites a desue ^ T exploration of the 
difficulties and dangers connected v th ^ e *P ^ 

unknown beyond served ^.*° ^£*^ a great field 

ofex^d^ « H«- "* tb0UgM 

form of the earth was demonsti atea , undermine d; the 

held theories as to physical P^? ^^ nat ure to know 
curiosity and inherent dispos tion of hu m estab . 

the why of things was greatly ^f^^Xongh space fur- 
lished that the earth was round and movea | ^ 

nished a firm basis for correct theonzmg in reg ^^ tQ 

forces. This is the >f undamen a I tn th ^Mc* to con . 

grasp before that time °\*f^™* e £ ™he knowledge of 
ceive of, made impossible an •Jjta^^ phenomena 
natural forces. But with thi. > tr nth know * ^ ^ 

became gradually ^derstood until at ™* J> knowledge 
suited in a comparatively ^thorough an increased the pro . 

of physical forces and ™£™™^™ ai even the boldest lm- 

a 1 ^;^ was round , tl m 

That FM Zt7J^e\o^e knowledge of physi- 
fundamental r ^h \hat gave r lS e ^^^^ b)Hh to 

cal forces, and might truthfully oe advance 

all of the sciences— did not result in ._ m _ 

in knowledge and power was d i h ; ^ 
portance of such advance could not 7^ D ^ er attractions, 

attention of the world was ^cnpe* b y lin ,. s is a law of 

The tendency of motion to ^ k s ; u i ^ ^.^ 

mind as well as oi matter, grange rim aml 

gasped, and were less so in thos< 1. ys ne^g qq 
importance of a knowledge ol ... tur t L 
doubt, a1 first pursued more to gratitj 



fC 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



27 



ing to know with which man is endowed, than for any 
advantage which the possession of such knowledge might 
bring, could not have been seen. At any rate those who first 
sought a knowledge of nature's mysteries could not have con- 
ceived of the magnificence and power that have come from 
the simple truths that they discovered. 

It has often been asked, wonderingly, what would have 
been the condition of European society from overcrowding if 
no America existed? But there are no ifs nor abortions in 
nature's designs. The forces evolved in social growth pro- 
duced the conditions of society that impelled to the discovery 
of America, and, in the course of time, its occupancy. It 
was, of course, from choice that men emigrated to America, 
but it was the choice between conditions made unbearable 
by the inequalities evolved in social growth and the more 
rude opportunities offered by nature. It was the same force 
that had always driven man, the force of social pressure ever 
compelling the extension of his power and dominion that 
forced mankind onward and outward until the extremes met. 

This onward pressure, as it were, of social conditions, 
like steam pressure in a cylinder, is great or slight as the re- 
sistance is great or slight. When the resistance is great, 
either j from lack of mobility in man or external obstacles, the 
movement is slow and the pressure great; but when the resist- 
ance is slight by reason of the activity of man or the slight- 
ness of external obstacles, the movement is rapid and the 
pressure but slightly felt. With the beginning of the coloni- 
zation of America social pressure was great; but when emi- 
gration became more rapid and the colonies advanced in 
prosperity in acceleration, social pressure became slight, and 
a comparatively close association grew up. When the 
pressure had again caught up and began to be felt, when the 
power of government was used to increase that pressure, the 
spirit that easier conditions had developed did not readily 
yield to the demands, but opposed them. The pressure pro- 
duced a spark that burst out in the fury of conflict, the re- 
sults of which were of the greatest moment to mankind. 

The great advance in form of government was due not 
to the gradual growth of republican ideals, but to the quick- 
ening of thought and the feeling of brotherhood and fellow- 
ship that accompanies a great struggle. When victory was 
gained, the feeling of equality in hardship and sacrifice gave 
rise to the feeling of equality in political power. The use of 
the 'power of government to increase the advantages of cen- 
tralized power was summarily checked, and the new civiliza- 



28 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



tion avoided the course taken by the one that preceded it — 
the complete subordination to a centralized power. In pro- 
Aiding a government, the colonists sought to eliminate the 
evil features of the one from which they had broken, to place 
the power of government beyond the control of a privileged 
few. 

Again, the force of social pressure compelled man to a 
great advance not only in America, but over the whole civil- 
ized world; for social pressure, like the pressure of steam, 
is felt not only where the movement takes place, but over 
the whole social body. The establishment of the first Ameri- 
can republic influenced the thought of the whole world. 

The seemingly unlimited extent of free opportunities to 
labor offered in America, when the disinclination to emigrate 
had been sufficiently overcome, gave relief from the pressure 
of conditions not only in America, where easy access to free 
land made escape possible, but also in Europe, for America 
made room for all. As internal co-operation grew and the 
boundless opportunities became more fully utilized, easier 
conditions resulted, education became gradually more dif- 
fused, thought was stimulated and ingenuity was developed. 
A new direction was given to social progress. Instead of 
only an outward movement, it now tended upward. Inven- 
tion followed invention and improvement succeeded improve- 
ment. The power of a knowledge of natural forces was be- 
ginning to be realized. As social pressure increased the 
added powers made extension easier. The snail's pace 
progress of centuries was becoming the headlong rush of the 
locomotive. The ties of association grew stronger at an ac- 
celeration. The bone of contention that threatened the dis- 
solution of the American union was destroyed by a fierce 
conflict; but the irresistible tendency to association rapidly 
overcame the disintegrating effects. The previous discovery 
of gold, which still held a great part of man's attention, by 
a few bold pioneers on the western edge of the new conti- 
nent started a flood of immigration to that point, though the 
route was exceedingly difficult and dangerous; and the tele- 
graph and railroad were soon extended to make closer con- 
ned ions wilh those rich regions, crossing an uninhabited and 
sterile route of many hundreds of miles. Thus was connected 
the easl with the west, making a very long stride toward the 
ultimate uniting of all mankind in one co-operation. 

It is not by mere chance that the great power and com- 
mand of nature lias been acquired at the same time that per- 
fect means of association and communication are established, 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 29 

education diffused, sympathies extended and the finer feel- 
ings and higher sensibilities aroused. It is only the develop- 
ment of the, fruit of the efforts of man in all time. It is to 
this that human progress unerringly came. It shows the ac- 
curacy of design of an infinite intelligence, the perfect adap- 
tion of parts. It shows the wonderful adjustment of human 
nature to external conditions, both originally and later as 
altered by human action. 

But social pressure has not lessened. The extremes of 
poverty and affluence still persist. With the forces that are 
so capable of elevation man has grasped forces that are 
equally destructive. Amidst the greatest enlightenment the 
llower of mankind is continually trained for war; and perhaps 
the greatest advances in invention have been in war appliances. 
But this is an assurance not of war, but of peace. The higher 
sensibilities and the growing feeling of brotherhood and a com- 
mon destiny, together with a realization of the necessary de- 
structiveness and horrors attending the use of modern appli- 
ances in war, is the best possible guarantee of peace. The 
present wars are a powerful illustration of this fact, and 
shows that the end of conquest is at hand. The two most 
powerful nations of the world stand aghast at the cost in 
blood and treasure of a conquest of the weakest peoples on 
the globe. 

Though the command of natural forces is most potent 
to elevation, it is equally potent to destruction. It has great- 
ly strengthened the bonds of association, but it has also 
increased the forces that threaten dissolution. With steam 
and electricity, the great factories and the greater ocean 
vessel, have came the death-dealing weapons of moden war- 
fare, the floating engines of destruction and millions of the 
pick of mankind trained to use them. These are the out- 
growth of the resistance to co-operation which has grown in 
spite of them. Yet they are not without their ends in social 
development. They check the centralization of power which 
tends to follow the centralization of co-operation under pres- 
ent adjustments and which is so destructive to social life. 
They take up the surplus products of labor and utilize more 
fully all human energies. • 

But standing armies are powerless to prevent the cen- 
tralization of power, for a resort to force, carried to its 
logical conclusion, would inevitably bring about what they 
are calculated to prevent, namely, the subjugation of the 
world to centralized power — the road that all previous civil- 
izations have traveled. And fearful of this event and jealous 



30 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

of each other's advantages, the rival powers are draining 
their resources not only of wealth, but of men. Because 
of this their latent power is lessening, and instead of tending 
to solve the question, they are only aggravating the evil, 
putting off the inevitable, yet increasing its force. 

These destructive forces that threaten to envelope social 
life in oblivion, and bring fear and anxiety to all, even those 
whom they were intended to protect; these are the forces, 
evolved with those the command of which has so wonder- 
fully increased man's power, which operate to compel 1a 
fuller and higher use of that power; compelling man to a 
higher plane of existence by threatening the demolition of 
his present status. 

But there are other and more potent forces driving man 
onward. The fact that in spite of the constantly increasing 
power of producing wealth, the power to provide for their 
dear ones is growing more uncertain for those who possess 
only their own powers, is becoming more fully realized. The 
recurring paroxysms of commercial depression bring want 
and suffering to many and arouse the sympathies and wound 
the delicate sensibilities of those who only in this way are 
made to feel the stings of poverty; and, by threatening the 
stability of pecuniary interests, which is, perhaps, at present 
the most potent factor in shaping the policies of the world, 
this too is aroused to the seriousness of social conditions. 
But great forces have great inertia. Each interest narrowly 
seeking its own welfare and heedless of general distress is 
ever prone to accept any proposed remedy that promises to 
alleviate the particular symptoms which are directly felt, 
giving little heed to a reform that proposes to go to the bot- 
tom and remove the cause. They seek safety in inaction, 
trusting to natural developments. But the limits of natural 
forces are infinite. If some periods of commercial depres- 
sion are worse than others, then there can be still worse. 
If small causes have bad effects, greater causes must have 
worse effects. The higher we rise in the scale of social life, 
the more severe will be the shocks resulting from social 
maladjustments; and the greater are the forces we grasp, 
the greater is the possible variation of condition. Just now, 
as in Tart Second I shall more fully explain, there are oper- 
ating forces that will sooner or later produce an industrial 
disturbance thai will shake our economic structure to its 
very foundation; and through its effects on pecuniary inter- 
ests, it will, I believe, bring the necessary pressure to com- 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



pel man to systematize and utilize the knowledge of social 
forces that he is. only now grasping. 

The state of discontent is rapidly extending ltseit to 
all minds. The persistence of want amidst plenty the ap> 
mrSt injustice of the conditions that gives but a bare sub- 
Stence to those who produce all while idlers are . mamtained 
in a state of wasteful and wanton luxury and with thejpres 
pii+ hi oh decree of intelligence, the total lack of any assui 
anee from tSe who art looked to for guidance and are 
Cposed to know much more than they really do that these 
condSons w 11 ultimately lead to better; all this leads well- 
meanino- people to seriously doubt that the world is guided 
bTan II 2e Provideuce^and that life does not end here 
And the consequent decay of a religious spirit among the 
masses of C °the "people and the increase of ^ crime arouse^ a 
f,.,.iin.. of aimrehension as to the future among those who 
ee the W influence of and profess to teach the gospel 
that has been a great solace and comfort to man m many a 

tryi Hnnmn a natnre is ever the same. The same inclination 
and * a"to' follow where others lead exists today as 
Tf hQ« nlwflfv® existed; the same readiness to utilize int. 
dependent ^ others' for his own aggrandizement continues; 
but the conditions are being rapidly ^evolved thai make the 
aggrandizement of leaders possible only by ^ e f^™ g *g 
thP followers We are coming to perceive that might ana 
!tht do not conflict. Man, bSth in his individual and col- 
ectYv f capacity, ha 6 ever adjusted himself to the conditions 
as they ST the inclination to do so is still very great 
bnt failure has oreeted every effort. Discontent is rapidly 
gow^ig dimensions are arising and condition, > are becom- 
fng unbearable. They must be commanded and mas tegd. 
To delay is but to tempt the vengeance that _ ^tens- ^e 
pressure is on and though it may shift, it will. nev er listen 
until man undergoes the effort to learn and obey the silent 
pomminnd of nature. To what horrors mankind win -ne 
3S5» will depend on the promptness of response^ 
nature's appeals; for she is just but inexorable. The duty 
must be done and he who will shirk it as he perceives it 
will as naturally suffer the penalty as he who disregards 
any other of nature's mandates. 



PART SECOND. 



THE SOLUTION 



OP THE 



PRESENT PROBLEM. 



Find out the cause of this effect, 

Or rather say the cause of this defect, 

For this effect defective comes by cause. 

— Hamlet. 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



35 



CHAPTER I. 



THE PRESENT PROBLEM. 

In the preceding chapters I have endeavored to show the 
perfect adaption of human nature and the physical features 
of the earth to social evolution. The perfect adaptions of 
nature holds good everywhere, although to many the adaption 
of the earth to the needs and welfare of man is not clear. But 
here as elsewhere the harmonies of nature must be; man is 
a part of nature and subject to her laws; although as usually 
spoken and thought of, we exclude man in the term "nature," 
but this is merely a distinction in thought. The reason we 
do not see the adaption of the earth to man's welfare is be- 
cause of our narrow ideal of his welfare. The world might 
have been better adapted to the thousand and one human 
ideals of human existence, many of which were realized only 
to give rise to other ideals. Were it only plenty to eat and 
drink, fine clothes to wear and houses to live in, that this 
world was intended to furnish man, it is indeed a poor make- 
shift. But it is something more. These are here for man, 
but under conditions that require a certain effort to obtain 
them; they are but a means. Man is not a plant, he is an 
animal, and with these the animal thrives, but in the animal 
there is a will, a conscious reasoning germ, so connected with 
and adjusted to the animal that the animal's comfort is its 
pleasure, the animal's well being is its welfare, the animal's 
wants must be first provided and then its desires arise. It 
is to the growth of this that the world is adapted, and that 
it is wonderfully adapted to this whoever will look may see. 

Physically man is the weakest of animals. It is only 
by the exertion of mind that he has maintained his existence. 
It was so at the beginning, is so still and ever will be as long 
as man is as we know him and matter and force persists. With 
exertion the mind grows and develops just as the physical 



36 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

powers do. Endowed with desire, which arises as by reason 
it perceives the possibility of satisfying it, the mind exerts 
itself not in the direction it chooses, but in the direction 
which the conditions offer satisfactions. These conditions 
man did not make in the beginning, and as they were altered 
by him, such alterations were not according to any designs 
of man, but as a result of the inclinations and powers that 
were aroused by pre-existing conditions. 

And desire prompting the mind to new devices and ways 
of satisfaction, powers were acquired which were easily trans- 
mitted from one generation to another and thus perpetuated. 
The satisfacton of one desire opens the possibility of another 
being satisfied, thus giving rise to other desires. The satis- 
faction of the animal desires give rise to desires purely mental. 
The desire to know arises as the conditions, varying perhaps 
with different individuals, offer the opportunity of its satis- 
faction. This, no doubt, is the reason that education is more 
diffused at the present day than ever before. The conditions 
evolved have always been such that the great majority of 
mankind could acquire only such knowledge as was necessary 
to the performance of their respective duties, until within 
the present century there arose a general desire for the educa- 
tion of all, which to many, even now, seems only an useless 
effort, and really amounts to only the mere rudiments of sys- 
tematic knowledge. 

How beautiful is the economy of nature even in man's 
efforts. As social growth and development required greater 
knowledge, the conditions evolved confined the effort of its 
acquisition to a few, until, with the acquisition of greater 
power of satisfying material desires, education became gen- 
erally diffused and the foundation was laid for intellectual 
growth and development, which can only be attained by 
making the conditions easier for the satisfaction of material 
desires. This is a necessary condition because of the fact 
that human endurance, whether of mind or body, is limited; 
and the lower orders of desire must be assured satisfaction 
before those other desires, which evidence in man something 
'more than the animal, arise. The desires which are com- 
mon to both man and brute and might be called animal de- 
sires, press irresistibly for satisfaction until such satisfaction 
is assured; but when their satisfaction is assured, not neces- 
sarily satisfied, and only then do those desires that so often 
and only in man develop into destructive passion give away 
to the desires that testify to the immortality of man. 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



37 



Something more is demanded than a more equitable share 
of material productions. That is but a means, but that only 
nianv social reformers contend for; and this narrow and per- 
verted view of all demands for social readjustments is held 
by many who even claim that slavery, war, pestilence and 
famine were means to the growth of the social state, which I 
do not dispute, and yet will denounce as traitors to church, 
family and state, all who would dare point out the dangers 
and duties that social growth has evolved and how one may 
be avoided and the other performed. Their idea of life is 
narrow, and, like many who see the danger of present condi- 
tions, they see as the end of advancement only more ease and 
comfort, a greater degree of satisfaction of physical wants. 
They would keep men under conditions so distorting and em- 
bruting that from the sheer lack of mental development they 
become a danger arid menace to peace and happiness. It is 
not enough that the laborer can have access to libraries or 
can read the same newspaper or scientific magazine that the 
millionaire does; much can be read and little digested. The 
blindness exhibited by those who it seems should know better 
is a trial to ordinary'patience. People compelled at an early 
age to endure exacting physical labor do not, except in rare 
cases, acquire a taste for close study or any study at all, 
for studying is at least as trying on the energies as physical 
effort. Those amiable philosophers might better realize the 
possible intellectual development of laborers as at present, 
by undergoing the physical strain of twelve hours labor, to 
say nothing of the wearing of worry and discontent that is 
the lot of the average laborer. 

But the leisure at my command will not permit me to 
dwell at length on the many points raised by this element 
of conservatism whose ideal having been attained would 
check all advancement. But as well try to stay the move- 
ment of the earth on its appointed orbit. Such efforts only 
steady the social movement and press into coherency and 
congruity the forces and theories of social advance. They 
do a real service to society by pointing out the incongruities 
which are so common to all new theories, and, by the oppo- 
sition which they are enabled to present through the readiness 
with which eloquence is mistaken for logic when directed 
along current lines of thought, they incite to intense effort 
the forces that are back of new theories. 

It is the growth and development of mind to which the 
world is adapted. The opportunity to use the mind is never 
lacking. The worry and discontent, from which none are 



38 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

exempt, are the forces that impel to mental effort and, there- 
fore, to mental development. It was this that caused all 
social advancement, all human progress. It is on the mind 
that social forces press, and though they press so slowly and 
steadily that we can perceive no movement except when we 
take considerable periods of time into consideration, they 
are none the less irresistible. And that man, in his effort 
to satisfy desire, moves along the line of least resistance is 
no less true of man collectively than as individuals. This 
law governs the movements of the most powerful human or- 
ganizations as well as the veriest savage who rolls logs in 
search of grubs; and the world is so adjusted that when the 
conditions press man onward, escape is possible only in the 
direction that was ordained; though what suffering may be 
endured through fruitless effort in other directions can only 
be surmised by a study of the history of the past. 

When the pressure of social conditions begins, it is always 
at the bottom of the social scale, and as it increases it is felt 
higher and higher in the scale of life until the object is 
attained. It has often been noted that those at the bottom 
are deaf to appeals for their own welfare and blind to their 
own interests. Though this class may constitute a very large 
part of society, social advance is not dependent on their effort, 
but the fear of their power often compels it. They feel the 
pressure, but they have not the mental capacity to find relief; 
therefore, the pressure rises until it reaches and effects the 
mind power of society. While men can secure the necessaries 
and comforts to which they are accustomed and opportuni- 
ties offer no other inducements, they are satisfied; but the 
marvelous adjustments of nature are such that industrial 
conditions are variable, and when the enjoyment of accus- 
tomed comforts and leisure are threatened by these changing 
conditions, the minds that have developed the capacity to 
reason will be exerted to find relief, to right the conditions 
that would deprive them of their accustomed satisfactions. 
In this way will conditions be altered. 

Did conditions grow harder gradually there would bft 
little cause for hope for an industrial readjustment; for 
though there would be discontent, it being always present 
would make it seem irremediable, and poverty amid wealth 
would be accounted for by such a handy explanation as the 
Malthusian theory or some other more consistent with what 
is known. But industrial conditions do not grow worse 
gradually, but rather suddenly. Production increases, em. 
ployment is pretty general, contentment reigns and hopes 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



39 



mount; when, of a sudden, production is checked, the ability 
to find remunerative employment grows less and less, con- 
tentment gives way to discontent and hopes begin to wither. 
Briefly, this is the course of what we call panics, the cause 
of which is explained in many ways, no explanation being 
generally accepted; though that they are peculiar to a high 
social state none will deny. When one passes off we feel 
hopeful that it will be the last; but while the conditions which 
evolve them exist, they will ever recur with increasing se- 
verity. 

Though of all the dangers to social life which progress 
has evolved, this may seem the least dangerous, it is neverthe- 
less a serious question and involves untold suffering. And 
on account of the radical change in conditions which these 
seasons of commercial paralysis bring about, I am convinced 
that this will eventually impel men to learn their cause and 
how they may be averted; for it is not that which continues, 
but that which changes, that commands attention. 

In the solution of this — the cause of recurring panics, 
which are nature's convulsive readjustments of unbalanced 
industrial conditions — we will also find the way to avoid all 
the dangers involved in social growth; for the solution of 
this question requires an understanding of the operation of 
social forces and how they can be modified or commanded. 
The power to command physical forces was acquired only 
through a knowledge of the relations of matter and energy; 
and so with social forces, a knowledge of which will enable 
man to control within the limits of natural law. 

The question that most perplexes mankind today is not 
how we may do without the great standing armies, how we 
may reduce the expenses of government or how we may get 
along with fewer prisons, asylums and almshouses, but how 
all m?y be employed and receive a natural and just remunera- 
tion for their effort; for it is more or less clearly understood 
that the former are connected with and derivative of the 
latter. And, panics being only the acute stage of unbal- 
anced adjustments, the question of which we will seek the 
solution is : Why are there at all times men unemployed 
and anxious to work, and at certain periods large numbers 
struggling for the opportunity to exchange their services for 
some form of its product, while there are immense stores of 
that product wasting and its source only partly usecl? Since 
the product of labor is only labor or services in concrete 
form and all cannot find employment because of the tendency 



40 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

of the supply of products to -exceed the demand for tkein, we 
may put the question in this simple form: 
" Whv does supply exceed demand? 
I do not mean that the actual supply of labor products 
exceeds the demand for them; but that the ability to produce 
exceeds the demand for the product. The natural economy 
of a society always tends to limit the supply to the demand; 
for when more is produced than is demanded, the surplus 
wastes and is a loss to society in general and the person 
or persons in whose possession it is in particular. There- 
fore the surplus product always tends to remain in its sim- 
plest or elementary form— idle labor and idle land. 

When we have traced this phenomenon (the excess of 
supply over demand) to its source, we will have found the 
error in our social adjustments from which spring the dam 
gers that menace social life, and through the discord and 
conflict of changing conditions we will see the harmony of 
social advance. 



CHAPTER II. 



DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 

We have but to pause and reflect to realize how im- 
portant is exchange in the present process of production. It 
of necessity grows with each improvement in methods of pro- 
duction, or it is rather the growth of exchange that gives rise 
to improved methods of production. From the time of the 
earliest writings about the condition of trade to the present, 
exchange lias seemingly never balanced; the equation between 
supplv and demand has never been maintained; and strange, 
that the embarrassment has been from- what seemed too much 
rather than too little. 

It is unnecessary to dwell upon the many explanations 
of this phenomenon;' the truth when once pointed <>ut stands 
transparent; its simplicity is its proof. It requires volumin- 
ous writings to build up and systematize error so as to make 
it pass for truth, ami then it is ever tailing; while truth itself. 
on account of its vevy simplicity and unobtrusiveness, stands 
unrecognized, it is indeed a herculean task, that the great- 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



41 



est minds might well feel proud of and consider as evidence 
of their superiority, to so systematize error as to make it pass 
with the rest of their kind as truth. Nature has never pre- 
sented a phenomenon that man did not in some manner read- 
ily explain; and only when we come to explain the relations 
of the various phenomena do perplexities arise and errors in 
explanations are discovered. And as the most difficult task 
offers the best test of strength, the greatest minds have 
directed their energies toward trying to harmonize discordant 
theories rather than seeking the true explanation of observed 
phenomenon ; and the lesser ones, awed at the seeming magni- 
tude of the task, readily accepts the explanations handed 
down. This, I believe, more than the power of pecuniary in- 
terests has given direction to economic investigations. 

But, however that may be, the popular faith in current 
economic theories is all but dead. The idea that all industry 
must be controlled and operated. by organized government, 
and the kindred though opposite idea of the irreconcilable- 
ness of law and liberty, are rapidly gaining ground from the 
sheer want of any satisfactory explanation of that paradoxical 
phenomenon, the constant tendency of the supply of products 
to exceed the demand while at the same time there is, per- 
haps, intense suffering from the want of them. 

There can be no doubt that an arbitrary division of the 
aggregate product of a state or nation, were it possible, would 
eliminate the embarrassment of overproduction; but, to say 
nothing of its impossibility or impracticability, it would 
also eliminate most of the incentive to endeavor, with- 
out which — well, carried to its logical conclusion, the end 
would be oblivion. Such an experiment can be thought of 
only as a last resort. We might in that way secure an equal 
distribution of property; but the fact that property is not 
equally distributed is an evidence that this is conducive to 
its best use. Those who own the wealth of the world show 
by such ownership their ability to make profitable use of it 
not only to themselves, but, under proper conditions, to the 
whole of society. Of this we shall see more clearly further 
on in this work. 

As generally used, the term "supply and demand" has a 
vague meaning, especially the latter. We understand pretty 
well that supply is the aggregate product. We know that 
the supply, of a farmer is the amount he produces, of a store- 
keeper the stock of goods he has for sale, of a manufacturer 
the amount of his product, and of any community the whole 
amount of what that community produces. But we do not 



42 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

know so well what is demand. We are apt to identify de- 
mand as desire, or, at least, to make no distinguishable dif- 
ference in the meanings we attach to those two terms. Though 
demand arises from the desire to possess, one may desire all 
that is in the world and not make a demand for even a tooth- 
pick. 

Exchange is always mutual. We acquire a thing that we 
desire, only by offering something to the other party to the 
exchange that will be preferred to the thing we desire, even 
though what we offer in exchange is only a promise to render 
the thing desired at some future time; this is demand. So 
we see that demand is the desire for a thing with the ability 
and willingness to give in exchange what will be more desired 
by the one with whom we would exchange; therefore, what 
we would offer in exchange is to us, demand, while it is to the 
other party supply. In this we see that the terms are merely 
relative; demand being supply and supply, demand, depend- 
ing on the point of view. And it must be, that while desire 
is unsatisfied, if the supply of some things exceeds the demand, 
the demand must exceed the supply of other things that make 
up the aggregate of exchanges; for bearing in mind the rela- 
tiveness of the terms, they must necessarily balance. 

In every civilized society, or where exchange is carried on 
to any extent, there are always accumulated and maintained 
stocks of goods or products of sufficient size to supply any de- 
mand on the shortest notice. This is true of all products of 
labor whether the demand be for a box of matches or a trip 
around the world. This stock of products always tends to 
the lowest possible quantity necessary to meet possible de- 
mands, because of the fact that all products of labor begin 
to deteriorate in quality and value as soon as their production 
is complete. Therefore, each individual and each association 
of individuals for the sake of economy, endeavors to keep only 
as large a stock as experience has taught will be necessary to 
supply all demands. Self-interests will always keep the stock 
up to this point, and the desire to avoid loss will keep it from 
going much above it. 

If exchange were confined to products of labor, supply 
could not exceed demand unless all desires were satisfied, 
for ;is soon as the supply of some things tended to exceed 
(lie demand for them, the decrease in price which would 
result therefrom would lessen the incentive to produce those 

things, i. e.. they wonld exchange for a less amount of other 
things, and thus would the equilibrium be restored. But 
here is a simple truth carelessly overlooked, as far as I know. 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 43 

by all economists. The fact that all exchange is not the 
exchange of products seems not to have been thought of. 
Henry George in this ignores, though no doubt unconsciously, 
a point of great moment to Ms philosophy. He says ("Prog- 
ress and Poverty," page 242) : 

"All trade, let it be remeinlbered, is the exchange of com- 
modities for commodities, and hence the cessation of demand 
for some commodities which marks the depression of trade, is 
really a cessation of supply of other commodities." 

And farther on in the same chapter, he speaks, with an 
uncertainty that is strangely out of keeping with his usual 
vigorous and confident way, of the cessation of demand be- 
ing caused by a cessation of supply some where, and finally 
concludes that since labor has not free access to land, this 
is where supply is checked. He says (page 245): 

"And hence, when through all trades, men willing to 
work cannot find opportunity to do so, the difficulty must 
arise in the employment that creates a demand for all other 
employments — it must be because labor is shut out from 
land." 

That labor is shut out from land is not literally true; and 
even if so, to make the conclusion valid it must be shown 
that the supply of some things is unequal to the demand 
for them ; this he fails to do. This uncertainty and indefinite- 
ness is, to me, only to be explained on the hypothesis that 
having after great effort satisfied himself in regard to the 
great central truth which he wished to make clear, he some- 
what relaxed his endeavor in the matter of details; his profuse 
pen and vivid imagination so well 'made up the deficiency that 
even himself was deceived. 

But nothiDg is clearer than that all trade is not only 
the exchange of commodities for commodities; taking, of 
course, what there cannot be the slightest doubt he meant 
by commodities, the products of labor. And a cessation of 
demand for commodities cannot be caused by a cessation of 
supply of other commodities unless the supply of some com- 
modities is exhausted or access to their source denied. This 
is not the case, for there is at all times of all commodities 
enough, and more than enough, to supply all demands, while 
productive forces stand idle and ready to meet any new or 
increased demand that may arise. 

We must grasp the fact that there are two distinct kinds 
of property that enters into exchange — one, the product of 
labor, commodities, and the other, the source from which 
these products are drawn, the resting place and space upon 



44 BARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

which man must use his powers. The quantity of the first 
may be iDcreased at will, only limited by the power of man 
to alter things; while the second cannot be increased or di- 
minished in quantity, however strong is the demaud or how- 
ever high the value resulting therefrom. 

The cessation of demand for products is caused by the 
cessation of supply of, not products, but the source of these 
products — land. I have known many cases of hardy settlers 
who paid five to ten dollars per acre for laud that was un- 
touched by the hand of man. These people had nothing to 
exchange for this land except what they produced by their 
labors; and this increased the supply of products, but gave 
no corresponding demand for them. Their demand for land 
did not tend to increase the supply of land, for that cannot 
be increased. The supply of that is always the same. The 
increase in value not only does not satisfy the demand for 
land, but actually increases it, because it is for that reason 
a much more desirable form of property to own. And when 
there are more endeavoring to exchange products for land 
than to exchange land for products, there will naturally be 
a surplus of products. 

The extraordinary demand for land does not come from 
a desire to use land, but merely from the desire to possess it 
— to become rich — which, like all other desires, arises only 
when we perceive the possibility of its satisfaction. of 
course, there is no scarcity of land for use, but when all 
available land is owned by some one the supply of land for 
mere ownership is exhausted. Those who possess great for- 
tunes (how these grew is explained in a previous chapter) 
desiring greater ones, which is conducive to their most pro- 
ductive uses, will receive a portion of the aggregate product, 
as the earnings of their property, far in excess of what would 
satisfy their desires, and as each and all are endeavoring 
to make their part of the aggregate product at least large 
enough to supply their own needs, and the amount of products 
which may in any state of society be economically held as 
capital being limited, there would be a greal excess of products 
over the demand for them were all productive forces em- 
ployed. And there is always a desire to exchange the excess 
of products for something that, though it may not be used, 
will not only not waste, but will increase in value with the 
inevitable increase of population — land. 

This surplus product, or the excess of the supply of 
products over demand, is the disturbing element in exchange. 
Its possibility causes the destructive competition between 



HARMONY YS. DISCORD. 45 

laborers resulting in low wages; and it causes the decline in 
price of products in such forms as represent mostly wages 
or cost of labor. It is, most likely, the net or surplus product 
of which the Physiocrats of the eighteenth century speak and 
of which, it seems, Mr. George did not quite grasp the full 
significance. It arises from the ability of some to become 
possessed of a larger portion of the aggregate production of 
society than is sufficient to satisfy their desires for these 
products, in an industrial state of such great productive 
powers that this excess is more than enough to supply all 
increasing demands for capital. 

Of course the real owners of this surplus do not have it 
actually in their possession; they have, rather, something 
which represents its value — bank checks, money, etc. . But 
these are not products and have not necessarily any value in 
themselves, but are only representatives of these products — a 
check, as it were, for them or their equivalent in value of 
other things. And with a true system of checking things, 
which the use of money as a medium of exchange really 
amounts to and that is the way nearly all exchanges are made, 
there must be held out of circulation an unusual part of these 
checks or money while there is of products an excess over the 
requirements to satisfy demands. But holding these checks 
(money) out of circulation is not the cause of the surplus 
product; both are causd by the lack of demand for any sur- 
plus that may have been produced, or, what is the same thing 
reversely stated, the laek of supply of what is desired in ex- 
change for this surplus, namely, land or some form of obliga- 
tions. 

As all products begin to waste and decline in value, 
whether used or not, from the moment they are produced, 
there is always a desire to possess the checks rather than the 
products while this surplus remains. This brings up the 
various phases of the money problem — the money always 
tending to accumulate in the hands of those who command 
the surplus product and go out of the regular channels of cir- 
culation, which happens only during the decline in production 
necessary to establish a new equilibrium between supply and 
demand. And, at the risk of digression, it may be well here 
to note how similarly ignorant of the cause that produces a 
dearth of money among the poor and an excess among the 
rich, are the contending factions for more or less money. 
They would secure an equation of supply and demand by en- 
deavoring to regulate the supply of money — control the cause 
by treating the effect. One side seeing money accumulating, 



46 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

presumes there is too much, or too much at certain times, and 

want the volume reduced or placed within their control. And 
the other side, seeing and feeling the dullness of trade, the 
cause of which is also the cause of the action of the medium 
of exchange, they unthinkingly attribute the former to be the 
effect of the latter, and stubbornly contend for a directly 
opposite, though not wiser policy. Both policies are closely 
related, though diverging widely, and each is as capable of 
success as would be a proposition to govern the annual rain- 
fall by controlling the flow of rivers. 

But turning again to our subject. During the various 
stages of social and industrial growth the demand for 
products, though always increasing, varies greatly, making 
what we call good times and hard times. The presence of a 
surplus product always lessening the demand for labor, hence, 
tending to reduce wages. But when an unusual demand for 
products arises, such as would be made by a war, a rapid 
extension of railroads, the introduction of new or more pro- 
ductive machinery or a great undertaking, even the building 
of highwa} r s on a large scale or maintaining standing armies, 
though products may be wasted, the increased demand for 
them will lessen competition for labor, and, therefore, will 
tend to raise wages. But let this demand cease or even cease 
to grow — production goes on at an acceleration until the sur- 
plus has grown abnormally large, when production ceases sud- 
denly, the cessation of demand propagates itself through the 
whole frame work of industry and we witness the dreaded 
panic, stagnation of trade — idle labor, idle land, idle capital 
and want amidst an abundance of wealth. 

At the present time (January, 1900) there is every indica- 
tion of the coming of a severe panic. The extraordinary de- 
mand for products made by the two wars that are being prose- 
cuted in the Eastern hemisphere, which is by far the greatest 
drain on the wealth of the world that was ever made 
by war or otherwise, has called out much of the 
latent forces of production; and when these extraor- 
dinary demands cease, the corresponding scale of pro- 
duction will continue, or, perhaps, be augmented for a 
time by some of the forces that are now only destroying 
wealth turning to producing it, until a surplus of such great 
proportions is produced that production will be suddenly 
checked and exchange completely paralyzed. The severity of 
the shock will only be augmented by the capitalistic combina- 
tions that have been forming at such a rapid rate during the 
past year, as they only increase the tendency to accumulate 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



47 



a surplus. These forces will eventually evolve a panic of 
such gigantic proportions that men who never before felt the 
necessity of studying social conditions, will seriously doubt 
the ability of society to endure. 

I have here purposely ignored the existence of such things 
as notes, bonds, mortgages, etc., in exchange, because of the 
confusion that arises when too many things are considered 
at once. For similar reasons I have avoided the use of money 
terms as much as possible. We are apt to forget that when 
we buy or sell we make but one-half the exchange, that we 
only exchange for money that we may exchange the money 
for something else. So it is with the bonds, etc., etc.; they 
are not things of value in themselves, but a promise to render 
at some future time something of equal value to that which 
is received. When they are exchanged for products or land 
there is really only one-half an exchange made. They are, 
in fact only a limited medium of exchange. 

As the flow of these obligations or evidences of indebted- 
ness is always into the hands of those who command the sur- 
plus product in exchange for that surplus, we may see that 
by such the equation between supply and demand is main- 
tained at a higher level of productiveness than it otherwise 
would be, and any tendency to reduce the quantity of these 
must result, while present conditions last, in a lessening de- 
mand for products of labor, a check in production, and, there- 
fore, a decline in the power to make the exchange complete — 
a period of commercial depression. 

These credits serve in a manner as a substitute for land 
in supplying the demand that arises from the desire for riches. 
They give an elasticity to trade, which, without them, could 
hardly vary. Though their expansion is perhaps only 
limited by the value of all property, when we consider that 
they are almost entirely held and are more strongly tending 
to be held by a few, we see that, while present conditions con- 
tinue, their contraction is possible only by the exchange for 
property which they represent. 

Here I cannot resist the temptation to digress in order 
to call attention to how apparent prosperity accompanies 
bond issues and extravagant public expenditures, and how the 
opposite course brings about the reverse conditions. Any 
one who will carefully read this chapter cannot fail to see 
that bond issues and wastefulness of wealth tend to make a 
demand for the ever possible surplus product, and, therefore, 
employ more fully the productive forces and maintain the 
equation between supply and demand at a higher level of 



48 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

production. The annual burning or throwing into the sea 
of all surplus products would have the same effect. It is be- 
cause of this thai many consider the exportation of more than 
we import as very favorable to industry. We merely get rid 
of a part of our surplus which otherwise would have the ten- 
dency to lessen the demand for labor. The opposite course, 
that of greater economy in public expenditures and decrease of 
indebtedness, does not relieve the market of the surplus 
product, and. therefore, tends to lessen the demand for labor. 
And while this policy is unaccompanied by any proposition 
as to how the surplus may be eliminated from the operations 
of exchange, it will be contending with the irresistible ten- 
dency of trade to seek a balance between supply and demand 
at a higher level of production. This policy, though appeal- 
ing to sentiments of morality and justice, is only a negative 
one, one of opposition to a positive policy, with all the ad- 
vantages of momentum of thought and customs in favor of 
the positive one. Sentiment and moral perceptions alone 
cannot control exchange relations; if Democratic ideas will 
prevail and its polices permanently displace Republican ideas 
and policies, they must be accompanied by a positive knowl- 
edge of conditions and how they can be modified or controlled. 
Negation cannot and will not rule. This is a world of force 
no less than of justice; and might and right have one origin 
and cannot conflict. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE REMEDY. 

In the previous chapter we have seen how production 
increased or decreased as the demand for the products in- 
creased or decreased, in other words that production was 
regulated by demand for the product; how increasing demand 
called out greater productive forces, and decreasing demand, 
by necessitating a new adjustment of productive forces, 
brought about the industrial paralysis which is ever recur- 
ring. We have seen how the failure of demand for products 
to keep pace with the ability to supply them while desire is 
unsatisfied, is caused by the failure of the supply of land or. 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 49 

to nse a more inclusive term, land values to satisfy or supply 
the demand for them; how this is always tending to produce 
a. surplus product, i. e., a portion of the aggregate production 
for which there is no demand, and as all surplus products 
tends, for economy's sake, to remain in that form which is 
least subject to waste or decay, the elementary form, it gives 
us the explanation of that hitherto unexplained phenomenon, 
the persistence of enforced idleness with idle opportunities. 

The disease suggests the remedy. What will relieve this 
condition is as clear as light at noonday. It is: We must 
take out of the sum of things that are exchanged, that which 
is not produced and cannot be increased in quantity to satisfy 
increasing demands; we must confine exchanges to products 
and the representatives of products; we must confine the 
exclusive possession of things by the individual, to those 
things that are produced by individuals and can be increased 
to any extent within the power of man to modify things to 
satisfy demand. 

To do this is not a difficult task. Nature makes no un- 
reasonable demands. She requires no effort that she does 
not furnish the necessary strength, asks nothing acccraii- 
plished that she does not furnish the necessary means, and 
demands no advance, but she points out the way. When 
the time came and all the world bowed in submission to a 
great earthly power, when the grandest and proudest civil- 
ization that the world had ever known was in the zenith of 
its glory, one came who, though the greatest of all, took the 
humblest position and taught the simple, though sublime, 
truth of the brotherhood and equality of man that was to be 
realized, which spreading over the known world and having 
become engrafted upon the thought of the world during the 
decline of a temporary power, was when the dark hour came 
and association was broken up, the cherished truth that beat 
back despair, and is the beacon light of the new civilization. 
And when it seemed that man's hopes were in vain, that all 
our efforts at bettering the condition of mankind on earth 
were futile, when the veriest savage seemed better off than 
many in the most highly civilized societies, she sent one who 
pointed out to the whole world, why this condition was and 
how it could be altered, even though he did not clearly diag- 
nose its cause and the effects of the remedy. 

We can take land out of the circle of exchanges without 
disturbing the ownership of things in the least. Nature builds 
' up nothing that must be torn down. We have not to clear 
—4 



HARMON* VS. DISCORD 

50 



^turt of the value of land the refore, can have no 

Land coet man no ^/fway-that of being abso- 

, -\ h«pU Considered in a waj C onrse, mval- 

value m itseii. linnrm existence— it is, o 1 ' „ t 

ililillll ; 

if u ihe value of St. W>«»/* T1 : s va U e arises trom u* 

"ercostty and elegant toldmga 1 v. ^ ,,„. ,„„,,, 

Semand for its use win.- ^'^ muC n as ten or twetve 

often used bul once, . ( 

usua l t 1f t h real demand for the useof *$«£ £,, pro- 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



51 



toward the most central point of demand for that product 
and thence outward in obedience to any particular demand. So 
there is some point that is the greatest center of exchange for 
any particular product, i. e., the greatest center of distribu- 
tion, which is also the greatest center of demand for that 
product. And there is also some point that is the greatest 
center of exchange for all products. Here, of course, a greater 
number of exchanges can be and are made with but little 
greater expenditure of labor on the same area that is neces- 
sary in the lesser center. Therefore labor exerted here will 
produce more value or will add the same value to a greater 
number of things. The same stock of goods will be sold more 
quickly in the greater than in the lesser center, therefore more 
value is produced; and this value attaches to the location — 
that particular part of the earth's surface — because of its 
availability to greater numbers. 

And within each center locations vary just as they do be- 
tween centers. In any particular occupation the location 
nearest the center of demand for its product will have an ad- 
vantage over any other location, measured either by the dif- 
ference in cost of transporting the product to that center, or, 
if the occupation be exchanging, (storekeeping, etc.) by the 
difference in the number of persons that will find it the most 
available location to satisfy their needs. Thus, for instance, 
"f A produced 1,000 bushels of wheat on a location from which 
it costs only 5c per bushel to get it to the center of demand, 
for wheat, where he receives f 1.00 per bushel, he receives, net, 
1950.00; while B produces with the same expenditure of labor, 
the same amount of wheat, on a location from which it costs 
15c per bushel to get it to that center and receives, net, only 
1850.00. It is clear that the former location is worth $100 
per year more than the latter. Then taking the occupaton 
of exchanging: A, on the best location exchanges (buys and 
sells) $50,000 of goods per annum and the difference between 
the cost and selling price is $10,000; while B, on the poorest 
location, sells only $10,000 worth and the gross profits are 
only $2,000. While different quantities of labor are required, 
that difference is in no way proportionate to the difference 
in the profits, and leaves a great advantage, perhaps to the 
value of $2,000. to the best location. 

Any one wishing to raise wheat could give $100 per year 
for 'the use of the best land and make as much as he could 
from the poorest location were he to get it free; and a mer- 
chant could pay $2,000 per year for the best location and make 
as much as he could upon the poorest were he to get it free. 



52 SARMONI vs. DISCORD. 

But ii may be ask< d, in the latter rase why does not the mer- 
chanl on the besl location, sell cheaper and supply all the 
demands? Because, first, as with the farmer on the best loca- 
tion for raising wheat, lie is no1 able to supply all demands; 
and. second, his location is no1 the center of all demands, but 
only the center of the larger portion of them; therefore be 
will demand just as much profil as be can, which is the least 
for which one with the pooresl location can sell for. This 
principle applies to all occupations. The manufacturer will 
seet tlio location that will place him closest to the source of 
his supply and the center of demand for his product. The 
miner whose mine is nearest the center of demand will have 
an advantage over other miners just as the farmer or trader 
lias. 

The pooresl local ion in use for exchanging may have a 
high value tor other uses, such as space to live on (residences) 
in- some form of agriculture, the different gradations of which 
call for different locations with respect to the center of de- 
mand. But the variations in value of location become less 
as the occupations become less intense or require greater 
areas and loss proximity to centers, as, for instance, between 
the different locations for exchanging there may be a differ- 
ence in value of a million dollars per acre, while between 
the best and poorest locations for raising live stock or wheat 
there is only the difference of the cost of transportation, 
which with wheat the greatest is not more than 25 cents per 
bushel; and counting the average yield as 15 bushels per 
acre the difference is only $4.50 per acre. The difference in 
value for stock raising is even less. There is a much larger 
difference in the value of farming land than this, but it arises 
from differences in natural fertility and social advantages, 
ami is vei v small compared with differences in value of land 
of commercial centers. 

For the purpose of considering the nature of the value 
of land. 1 have taken the two occupations that make use of 
the extremes in valuation of locations — that of exchanging 
and that of wheat raising. The commercial or exchange value 
of land is the annual value computed or capitalized at a 
rate pel- cent somewhat less than the current rate of interest 
because of the constant tendency of land to increase in 
value, which is a natural consequence of an increasing 
population. Thus, taking the two locations for exchanging 
in our former illustration, the exchange value of the best loca- 
tion would exceed that of the poorest to (he amount of a 
sum that at something less than the current rate of interest 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 53 

would yield $2,000. And the poorest location for exchang- 
ing would exceed in value inferior locations for less intense 
uses in the same way, the simple law of supply and demand 
fixing this difference. 

A growing population making a greater demand for lo- 
cations, the annual value or earnings is always increasing, 
and this prospective increase is discounted in the exchange 
value of land. This explains why land values yield a less 
per cent than does capital; it would do so, even, were its 
annual earnings multiplied ten or a hundred times. But the 
point that is particularly necessary to emphasize is, that the 
commercial or exchange value of land is reckoned from the 
annual earnings, and not the annual earnings from the ex- 
change value; and this annual value, which is the annual 
earnings, is merely the value of the advantage of a location 
over other locations because the use of this location toy 
labor adds this extra value to the aggregate value of things 
produced. 

If more than the annual value of any location is de- 
manded for its use, it will be more profitable for the pros- 
pective user to employ himself on a less valuable location, 
although that will lessen the aggregate production. Using 
the former illustration, if the owner of the best location for 
exchanging demand more than $2,000 more than the poorest 
location can be had for, it becomes more profitable for any one 
except the owner to use the poorer location. And if the 
owner of the best location for raising wheat demand more 
than the difference of value in use between that and the poor- 
est location, it also becomes more profitable to use the poorer 
location, though the production of value is much less or re- 
quires a much greater effort of labor. In each of these in- 
stances, we see that if more is demanded for the use of a 
location, either annually as rent or capitalized as exchange 
value, than the value of the advantage of its use, inferior 
locations will be resorted to at the expense of greater produc- 
tion, which clearly explains why so much valuable land is 
unused or only partially used. And it is equally clear that 
greater production will result from the fullest use of the 
most valuable locations, for it is in the potential productive- 
ness of a location that lies its value. 

Now, since the commercial value of land, the basis for 
tax levying, is the capitalization of the annual value, if we 
levy an annual tax on the commercial value of land at a rate 
high enough to amount to all or nearly all the annual value, 
we will take land out of the circle of exchanges, for the simple 



54 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

reason thai there will be no value left to exchange. The 
rah- of taxation should be somewhal less than the current 
rate of interesl if the assessed valuation be the full coui- 
mercial value of the land: bu1 the main point is to take as 
near as possible the lull annual value of the land. If more 
is taken producers will resorl to inferior locations and the 
government as well as the individual will lose; therefore, it 
would he to i lie advantage of all to take less, rather than more, 
than the lull annual value; bu1 if too little is taken land will 
have an exchange value and. hence, will be exchanged. Hut 
we see that one rate would he equitable for all land. The 
rate would he not on the annual value, hut upon the com- 
mercial value, the capitalization of that value. Any location 
that has an advantage over any other location in use, has the 
expression of that advantage in its value; and the same rate 
thai would take the full annual value of the most valuable 
land would take no more than that value of the poorest 
land. 

By taking something less than the annual value (not the 
annual earnings, hut the power to earn) whether used or not, 
we would compel the fullest use of the most valuable land, 
having only the hast valuable land idle. The owners would 
in no way be enabled to increase the amount they could get 
for its use, for the same relative value of the different loca- 
tions would remain, and, if the owner demanded more than 
the difference in value, his land would be left idle and un- 
productive and he would have to pay the tax to the govern- 
ment just the same, a transact inn thai would soon induce him 
to put his land to its fullest use or give up the title t<> some 
one who would. This would reduce the value of a gnat deal 
of land, because when the must valuable land is used to its 
fullest capacity, there will he much less demand for poorer 
land, and. consequently, it will have less value; and that for 
which there will he no demand will have no value. And by 
leaving a small pari of the annual value to the owner, even 

one per cent, ii would be an inducement to the use of the best 
lands, and need not be more than enough to cover the cost of 
collecting rents. 

Of course, not even the most radical single taxer would 
advocate the collection of more revenue than would cover the 
legitimate expenses of government. Nor is it probable thai 
the greatesl amount thai could be properly raised by the 
single tax. as this system is called, would exceed the present 
sum of tuxes. Cut while such a system of raising revenue 
would greatly simplify the functions and reduce H xpense 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



55 



of those functions of government, the legitimate functions of 
government might be extended almost indefinitely — schools 
might be extended, roads built and other things which the 
mention of these will suggest might be done if the revenue 
from the value of land would permit. 

The application of the single tax would effectually elim- 
inate land from the sum of things exchanged. This is clear 
to any one who is reasonable enough to make an independent 
investigation; but will it also make an excess of supply of 
products impossible? Here we come across a stumbling 
block to the acceptance of the single tax by a large number 
of well-meaning people, a misapprehension as to the effects 
of its operation on the distribution of wealth produced, which 
has come into general acceptance. Yet it is plainly not in 
accord with natural perceptions; but it has turned efforts in 
other directions for relief from what seemed to require direct 
treatment. 

In the present state of society, where few own practically 
all the wealth, if we do eliminate land value from the sum 
of things exchanged and the effect is to increase interest, as 
Mr. George taught, will it not enable some to command more 
of the aggregate product than will be necessary to supply 
their needs? And, consequently, will there not be a possible 
surplus products and idle laborers competing with one an- 
other for the privilege of working for some one, which will 
drive down wages? • 

This is the essence of the objections that are offered to 
the claims of the advocates of the single tax; and it has with 
it the force of logic, but it is the logic of error — error not on 
their part, but on the part of the single taxers themselves. 
To claim that interest, the earnings of wealth used in pro- 
duction (capital) would rise with the increase of production 
and more equitable distribution of wealth, is to deny the uni- 
versal law in political economy of supply and demand. It is 
ignoring: a truth that is self-evident when viewed independ- 
ently. And after all, the truths that we discover and explain 
after ages of toil are the simple though ill-understood truths 
that we naturally perceive. 

We can only speculate as to how Mr. George came to 
this erroneous conclusion. It is to me only an evidence of the 
immutable order in nature. The time was not yet ripe for 
the application of his reform, the peculiar conditions that im- 
pressed him presented the question to him in this way, and 
he with his wonderful intellectual powers presented it to the 



56 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



world iii a way that challenged admiration, and. up to the 
present, successfully defied contradiction. 

But truth will grow. The resistance it meets only clears 
it of impurities; and when free from error, it is irresistible. 
Mr. George undoubtedly did his work well; lie sowed the seed 
of truth as he received it from nature. Though it has spread 
its branches and struck its roots deep, it must be separated 
from error; and on soil ever growing better it cannot be long 
in maturing a bountiful harvest. 

But let us review the laws of the distribution of wealth 
in order to make sure this error. Let us review briefly but 
carefully the laws that determine what part of the aggregate 
product goes to each of the factors to its production. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE LAWS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. 

All economists agree that there are three factors in tin- 
production of wealth — land, labor and capital — and that the 
product or wealth produced is divided between those factors 
by the operation of natural law. But in the classification of 
those factors is a fruitful source of error. It is said, "that 
combining in thought what is separted by nature is the source 
of all error;" but it is equally productive of error to separate 
in thought what is combined in nature. While we may 
make numerous divisions of the factors or forces, which in 
production are the same, they are divided by nature into only 
two general and distinct classes, namely, land and labor — 
the material forces and properties of the universe exclusive 
of the subject whose relations we seek (man), and the powers 
and capabilities of that subject. Mr. George recognized this. 
but, as he said, in deference to usage he treated the pro- 
duction and distribution of wealth as tripartite instead of 
dual. 

The essential element of man is not his physical powers, 
for these can be and often are substituted by other forces, 
but the intellectual powers that direct and govern the exer- 
tion of physical force. Tools and instruments are only the 
separable extensions of the inseparable physical powers of 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 57 

man; and the comforts and conveniences of life are means 
of maintaining and economizing the inseparable powers. 
Therefore, capital is properly only a subdivision of the factor 
labor — the powers of man, since it is only an augmentation of 
his powers. So in considering the distribution of wealth, 
we will first consider the two principal factors, land and 
labor; and then we will consider the latter factor in its two 
divisions, the separable and inseparable powers of man; 
which is, 1 believe, the only proper way to consider these 
factors. And the term "wealth'' I shall use in the well de- 
fined sense that Mr. George used it, namely, the product of 
land and labor or that which has value from production, i. e., 
products. 

The divisions of wealth corresponding to the factors of 
production are, rent for land, wages for labor and interest 
for capital. But land and labor are the principal factors 
and are indispensable to production. 

Rent, that part of the product which the owner of the 
land can get for its use without any exertion on his pan, 
depends on the advantage which any particular piece of land 
offers to the user over the best land that can be had for noth- 
ing. And, of course, the compensation for human effort, 
must be the remainder or what is equal to or can be obtained 
from the best free land. This is so simple that no illustration 
is necessary. 

Rent arises from the construction of the earth and the 
natural growth of society. The fact that the* same effort will 
produce more value, which is the only consideration in mod- 
ern production, upon one piece of land than upon another en- 
ables the owner to demand and the user to give the excess of 
value produced as rent. It arises not so much from a resort 
to inferior lands as from a greater or more intense use of the 
best land. Poorer land does not necessarily mean of less 
fertility, but less available; for in this age of exchanging, 
proximity to demand far outweighs fertility of soil; and dis- 
tance from markets is measured not so much by miles as by 
money. 

The rent of any piece of land is the excess of value that 
can be produced upon it over what can be produced upon the 
poorest land in use with the same exertion; and, of course, 
rent in the aggregate is the sum of the rents of all land. 
Rent is identical with the annual value of locations, which 
is described in the previous chapter. Within certain limits 
it can be reduced or increased. It cannot be reduced below 
the excess of annual value that is above the poorest land 



58 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

that a society must resort to to supply their needs; and it can- 
not be increased beyond the excess of annual value over the 
poorest land upon which the human forces to production can 
be maintained. "While the greatest production would result 
from the use of the best land exclusively, as the tendency of 
all is to increase their income, the land owners cannot resist 
the temptation to demand more and more for the use of their 
land, which causes a resort to inferior, that is less produc- 
tive lands, leaving - much of the more productive lauds id it 
or only partly used, decreasing production and reducing the 
compensation for human powers to a bare subsistence for (lie 
lowest orders. And, though this increases particular rents 
and rent potential, it reduces rent in the aggregate; for actual 
rent, like wages, must vary with production. 

Having seen what portion of the aggregate product is 
rent and how that portion is determined, we have necessarily 
found what portions belongs to the other factor, human 
forces. When there are only two parts to be made of a 
thing, the law that determines what portion one part is, 
must also determine the other part; therefore having the law 
of rent, we have also the law of wages and interest combined. 
As rent increases the other portion decreases, and as rent 
decreases the other portion increases; and both increasing or 
decreasing as production increases or decreases. 

Now, by the same method we may find the law that de- 
termines what pjortion of the compensation for human forces 
belongs to the owner of the inseparable powers, labor proper, 
and what part belongs to the owner of the saparable powers — 
capital. The law that determines the rate of interest must 
determine the portion that is left as wages, or, in other words, 
the law thai determines the portion that labor must give for 
the use of capital, will determine what remains for labor, just 
as the law that determines what portion is given as rent de- 
termines also what portion remains as compensation for labor 
and capital. As to what capital is. there is much contention. 
From a certain standpoint we might consider all wealth as 
capital. If, when we speak of production, we have in mind 
the final and permanent results of man's efforts, in the pro- 
duction of which wealth is produced, distributed and con- 
sumed — the acquisition of knowledge and power — we might 
consider all wealth as capital. But it is not in that sense we 
Avish to analyze the product on and distribution of wealth. It 
is in this particular instance only to find the law that deter- 
mines the rate of interest. Therefore the term capital is 
only to distinguish that part of wealth which earns interest 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



59 



from that part which does not. It is from not keeping in 
mind the object of capital, or rather the object of the term, 
that so much contention arises. From the very unity or one- 
ness of things analysis of any abstract question is impossible 
unless we first make a distinct division in mind of the parts 
or elements, and then, always observe that distinction. We 
must observe the distinction between land and capital; also 
between inseparable human powers and capital, and between 
wealth which does not earn interest and that which does, for 
this reason. No matter how like one division is to another 
from certain standpoints, if we do not always observe the 
original distinction throughout the whole inquiry we make 
satisfactory conclusions impossible. 

But much of the confusion in regard to capital arises 
from a misconception as to what capital does. And much 
undue importance is given to capital because of such beliefs 
as, that capital employs labor, that wages are drawn from 
capital and that the quantity of capital limits labor. The idea 
that capital employs labor and kindred ideas are rapidly giving 
away before prejudice more than from a thorough understand- 
ing of fundamental principles. They still crop out in such 
form as the belief that labor is oppressed by capital. But the 
remedy mostly relied upon for this is similar to Schopenhauer's 
proposed relief from the pressure of desire, namely, its extinc- 
tion. 

We must remember that capital of itself can accomplish 
nothing. It cannot, strictly speaking, even aid labor, as some 
say; but by using capital, labor can greatly augment its power 
in production. And, though capital cannot employ labor, 
the capitalist can; but the capitalist is not capital, he is labor. 
He can employ other labor to aid him in using his capital in 
production, or he can let another use it, but in either case it 
is labor that employs capital, if we can properly use the word 
"employs" in that way. And what we want to find is the 
law that determines how much on the average the capitalist 
will receive after deducting all expenses including compensa- 
tion for his services, or, if he lets another use it, how much 
he can demand and the other will give for such use. There- 
fore, the object of the term capital is merely to distinguish 
that part of wealth that is used by some other than the owner, 
or used by him not for immediate satisfaction, but in the pro- 
duction of wealth, that part of wealth that earns interest. 
Capital truly is, as Mr. George tersely describes it, "wealth in 
the course of exchange." 



60 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

Though Mr. George clearly describes what is capital and 
what it docs, when we come to his explanaton of the cause 
and law of interest, vagueness displaces clearness. In seek- 
ing the cause of interest, he observes that it is high when and 
w here wages are high, and low when and where wages are 
low. He infers from i his that each arises from the same 
cause, thai of low rent, or an abundance of free land. But 
it is clear that, though there can be no doubt that this is 
a cause of high wages, if there were more capital at command 
than the available labor could profitably use, the returns for 
the use of capital, interest, would decline in spite of an abund- 
ance of free land. 

He notes that interest is higher in new countries than 
in older ones where production is greater, and shows that the 
pate of interest does not depend on the productiveness of 
labor or the increased power in the use of capital, nor upon 
the cost of labor — wages. He carefully examines point after 
point that have been raised by various economists in regard 
to the cause of interest. He disputes Bastiat's claim that 
the basis of interest is in the increased productiveness from 
tin- use of capital. He says: 

"If the power which exists in tools to increase the pro- 
ductiveness of labor were the cause of interest, then the rate 
of interest would increase with the march of invention." 

Bu1 this reasoning is not valid; the rate of interest cer- 
tainly would increase with the march of invention were the 
supply of tools limited, or inadequate to the demand for 
them. After rejecting one after another of the reasons 
cited, lie takes as the cause of interest, the utilization in 
production of the vital or reproductive forces of nature and 
the exchange of products — to quote his own words ("'Progress 
and Poverty," page 108): 

"Tims interest springs from the power of increase which 
the reproductive Forces of nature, and the in effect analogous 
capacity for exchange, give to capital. It is not an arbi- 
trary, but a natural thing; it is not the result of a particular 
social organization, but of the laws of the universe which un- 
derlie society. It is therefore just." 

Mr. George's error springs from the tacit and. no doubt, 
unconscious assumption that capital is a co-factor in produc- 
tion with land and labor, which idea he afterwards rejects. He 
sought to give interest a bnsis in that power of nature that 
alone makes production possible. The vital or reproductive 
forces of aature is the force that man utilizes in all produc- 
tion. Even the minerals and various earths were gathered 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 61 

into the convenient bodies in which we find them by a force 
that is analogous in production to the principle of life. It 
was this that the Physiocrats thought gave rise to rent, as 
explained by Mr. George in his "Science of Political Econ- 
omy." But their mistake was only something more than 
his, for it no more gives rise to interest than it does to rent. 
It is simply the origin of all production, the process by which 
matter assumes forms suitable to man's uses. 

There is no more reason for me to give a high rate of in- 
terest for the use of one bushel of corn whch may yield 500 
fold, than for a savage having only crude weapons to give a 
high rate of interest for the use of a modern firearm which 
might increase the result of his effort equally as great. Each 
instance presupposes a scarcity of capital. If I had the only 
one thousand bushels of corn in the world, I might demand 
and receive two or three thousand per cent interest for its use; 
or, if on an island cut off from communication with the rest 
of the world, where the inhabitants lived by hunting, one pos- 
sessed the only modern firearm and there was no immediate 
means of producing another, he might demand an equally high 
rate of interest for its use, or, what would be the same thing, 
he could demand the usual rate of interest on an enormous 
capitalized value. The same principle applies to both species 
of capital, that of inanimate matter as well as that which con- 
tains the germ of life. One is no more the cause of interest 
than .the other. In fact they are but different stages of the 
process of production. That one is the result of the action of 
the vital forces of nature acting through ages and the other 
of possibly only a few months, makes no difference. Planks 
and timbers, iron and clay are as much products of the vital 
principle as wheat, yet it would seem Mr. George would not 
class them as such. The fish in the ocean is as much a product 
of the reproductive principle as the sheep or the cattle; yet 
he would not say that the utilization of that principle in the 
production of fish, caused interest; but the only difference in 
those two kinds is that the fish required no care while the 
sheep or cattle did, which of itself would make the fish more 
the cause of interest than sheep or cattle, for the value of the 
sheep or cattle would be partly of labor required to care for 
them, the fish requiring no care. 

It is clear that the cause of interest is not in the utiliza- 
tion of the vital or reproductive principle in production. It 
is not so deep. It is merely the scarcity of capital, as meas- 
ured by the demand, that causes interest; interest is high or 
low as capital for use is scarce or plentiful. Not the scarcity 



62 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



or plentifulness of some forms of capital, for that only in 
creases or decreases the exchange pi-ice of that form, but 
of all capita] or capital generally. Interest is the price ihar 
can be demanded for the use of capital, through the opera- 
tion of the law of supply and demand. 

But it may be asked: -Why. in the tare of the phen- 
omenal increase in the power of producing capital, does not 
interest decrease more rapidly?" 

Let it be remembered that the power of producing capital 
is not capital and. therefore, cannot affect interest. The 
power of producing capital can no more affect interest than 
the power of producing food can appease hunger. In our co- 
operative system of production, it is not desire, but demand* 
that causes productive forces to move; and there is, ordin- 
arily, but little capital produced, in excess of the demand. 
The demand for capital is so variable that at times it re- 
quires Ih.e employment of nearly all available labor to satisfy 
it; and at other times, when demand is checked and production 
not readily responding to the decreasing demand, there is a 
quantity very far in excess of the demand. But the rate of 
interest is not fixed from day to day, but, in many cases, for 
very long periods of time, and when there is an excess of 
capital there is usually little demand for it at any rate, pro- 
duction ceases until demand is again felt, when, of course, 
custom and usage suggests the usual rates. Confidence in 
the re-establishment of an equilibrium prevents the full play 
of competition of capital seeking investment, which would be 
exhibited in a rise in the price of bonds, etc. This equilibrium 
is finally restored through the inevitable decreasing produc- 
tion, thus reducing the supply of wealth and, therefore, of 
capital to an equation with demand. 

Most capital, as well as all other property, is owned by 
those who under the present conditions do not feel the neces- 
sity of effort, and, therefore, do not use their powers, either 
separable or inseparable, in production; and they would not 
accumulate capital were not the satisfaction of a desire offered 
— the desire for riches. Thai the passive factor of produc- 
tion (land) having come into the possession of a compara- 
tively tew, whose ordinary desires for products being Satisfied, 






i. :i- I have previously explained, is the ability and willingness to render 
an equivalent in value. To have this ability, independently of another's desire, each 
must have equal access to natural opportunities: because man can create nothing. 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



63 



would not utilize this factor or force further were it uot for 
this desire (to be rich) which is looked upon as abnormal, is 
the cause of the persistence of interest admits of no doubt. 

As to interest being' natural — were it not it could not be; 
but it is only natural as an effect. It is the result of a par- 
ticular social organization, at least it is affected by conditions. 
And the justice of interest — that goes with the right of own- 
ership of capital. Interest is only the result of a mutual 
agreement between the owner and the user of capital. The 
various rates of interest are the effects of conditions, the pre- 
miums that are necessary to induce a sufficient accumulation 
of capital to supply the demand. And if the conditions were 
such that the owner could demand nothing for its use, only 
its replacement, or, perhaps, would have to pay something 
for its preservation, such an arrangement would be equally 
natural and just. 

But those who seek to abolish interest by legislative en- 
actment should know how well it is that they cannot. Not 
to speak of the hardships to the prospective user of capital, 
who would be put to greater expense to get capital as we de- 
stroyed the incentive for the capitalist to seek a use for his 
capital, its effect on production would under the present con- 
ditions be appalling. When we consider the relation of in- 
terest to the exchange value of land, we may see* what would 
be the result of the abolition of interest, were it possible, 
while land is the exclusive property of individuals. Consider 
for a moment what would be the exchange value of land, i. e. 
how much other property would land exchange for would that 
property earn nothing? Kemember that rent is not 
affected by the rate of interest; but rent is to the exchange 
value of land as interest is to capital. Then take land of 
which the annual rental is $100, and with interest rates at 
zero or 00 per cent, find the exchange value of that land. 
Would it not be infinite? With interest abolished exchange 
would lose all flexibility, land would not be exchanged for 
any other kind of property, capital would not be accumulated 
and production would be carried only as far as would satisfy 
the immediate desires of the owners of land, with the result 
that all others must beg, starve or steal. But such a condition 
is highly improbable, if not absolutely impossible, but only 
because man's power over nature is not sufficient to arbitra- 
rily abolish interest. 

Most interest is interest for a loan of money, but it is not 
really money that we borrow — money here as elsewhere play- 
ing the part of medium — but the wealth which we exchange 



6-i BARM0NY vs. DISCORD. 

the money for. It is much mure convenient for tin* borrower 
to borrow a sum of money and exchange that for the various 
forms of wealth he may desire, than to borrow the differenl 
articles directly. And ii is much more convenient to both 
borrower and lender that the prospective lender, instead of 
having various articles to lend, have the common medium, 
that winch will readily exchange for all articles of wealth. 
Eliminating the cost of agencies and insurance against loss, 
if interest is higher at one place than another, it is because of 
the tendency of money to How towards the centers of wealth, 
to follow wealth, especially when supply ever tends to exceed 
demand, and the difference in cost of loaning and collecting 
between large and small quantities, corresponding to whole- 
sale and retail in trade. 

Bui turning to the law of interest, on page -!7!t of "Prog- 
ress and Poverty," Mr. George, holding that the relation of 
wages and interest is one of ratio or proportion and not of 
opposition, says: 

"It is impossible, perhaps, to formulate this point," (the 
point at which the reward for labor and capital will be equal) 
"as wages are habitually estimated in quantity, and interest in 
a ratio; but if we suppose a given quantity of wealth to be the 
product of a given amount of labor, co-operating for a stated 
time with a given amount of capital, the proportion in which 
the produce would be divided between the labor and Hie capi- 
tal would afford a comparison." 

Mr. George here speaks of wages being habitually esti- 
mated in quantity and interest in a ratio. Is it not clear 
that wages are estimated in quantity because of their being 
a portion of the product? And the ratio of interest is a ratio 
or proportion of net the product, but the value of the capital 
used. Then he speaks of labor co-operating with capital; 
but Labor does not co-operate with capital, it merely uses 
capital. Capita] has no power of itself to act, hence, labor 
cannot co-operate with it. Mr. George, no doubt, had in mind 
when he spoke of the co-operation of capital with labor, the re- 
productive forces of nature; but these do not co-operate with 

labor, labor merely utilizes them. They have only the power 
to increase in quantity, ami in their utilization by labor, 
ahme. is the source of their increase of value. 

Alter dwelling at greai Length on what he terms the re- 
LatioD of ratio or proportion of wages and interest, he sums 

up the law of interest as follows: 

••The relation between wages and interest is determined 
by the average power of increase which attaches to capital 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 65 

from its use in the reproductive modes. As rent arises, inter- 
est will fall as wages fall, or will be determined by the margin 
of cultivation." 

Mr. George himself furnishes the basis for the refutation 
of this "law" of interest. In his Science of Political 
Econom}', which, by the way, is a work that bears evidence 
of great care and precision, he shows how wealth, which in- 
cludes capital, derives its value solely from the impress of 
labor; yet in this statement of the law of interest, he speaks 
of the power of increase of capital. Evidently, he had in 
mind the power of increase in quantity; but no one would 
know better than Mr. George, were his attention called to 
the fact, that not the quantity but value is the only quality 
considered in the present system of production. In one of 
those lapses of intensity of thought, that is characteristic of 
genius, he confounded quantity with value. Though much 
of capital has the power in itself to increase in quantity, an 
increase in quantity does not necessarily imply an increase 
in value. It is well understood that past a certain point, an 
increase in quantity, where the reproductive principle of na- 
ture is used, does not only not cause a commensurate increase 
in value, but actually results in a decrease of value; for the 
liability of this class of capital to decay and decline in quality 
after being produced, not infrequently causes the entire an- 
nual production, when that production is excessive, to be of 
less value than would a much smaller production. Capital 
of itself has no power to increase in value. Such capital as 
plants and animals can have value only from scarcity or from 
the labor necessary to produce them in sufficient quantity, 
just as all other capital. 

Interest, then, the price that labor must pay for the use 
of capital, is determined by the general scarcity or plentiful- 
ness of capital seeking use; not at any particular time, but 
time generally or on the average. It is the premium that is 
necessary to induce those who command the forces of produc- 
tion and have no desire for capital to use, to move those forces 
to produce sufficient capital to supply the demand for its use. 

Having found the law that determines what portion of 
the aggregate product must be given as rent and inter- 
est, we have necessarily found the law that determines the 
portion that remains for wages — the compensation for the 
natural and inseparable powers of man. This quantity, under 
all conditions, must depend on the energy and industry of 
the laborers, and is divided among them by the natural law 
—5 



66 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

of supply and demand. The labor thai requires various de- 
rives of skill, talent or genius, will be recompensed according 
to the scarcity or plentifulness of such qualities. 

There seems i<> be a tendency to exclude mental capabili- 
ties from the factor labor, and class them as capital. This 
arises from no1 understanding the real nature of labor. In 
even the lowest forms, labor is not so much physical as 
mental. The physical powers of man are, indeed, trilling 
compared with the forces that are called to aid them. The 

• lenient of labor is the power of direction, the mind or spirit. 
If we exclude mental capabilities from the factor labor, we 
will have only a piece of inanimate matter as destitute of 
power as a stick or stone. And if we were to class any 
human qualities as capital, we could much more consistently 

• lass the physical powers as such than the mental, for the 
physical powers are much more closely allied to actual capital 
than is that higher quality. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE EFFECTS OF THE SINGLE TAX. 

The conclusions we have readied in regard to the laws of 
the distribution of wealth, differ from those reached by all 
accepted economists. Yet, when once pointed out, their sim- 
plicity compels assent. The simplicity of the law of rent has 
compelled its acceptance from the time of its formulation; 
but as to the law of wages and interest there has been much 
contention. Mr. George's formula of the law of wages with 
interest included is equally simple and plain, it being only 
a natural inference from the law of rent; but in seeking the 
law of interest, he abandoned simplicity and formulated a 
law of interest that no amount of reasoning can give the cer- 
titude that attaches to the law of rent and wages. It is, in 
truth, totally baseless. 

The law of interest, as formulated by Mr. George, is 
shown to be clearly wrong. While, as we have seen, the true 
law of interesi is so easily comprehended that all doubts as 
to its correctness are dispelled. It makes a division of that 
part of the product which is left after deducting rent, just 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 67 

as the law of rent divides the whole product. Although it has 
fallen as a proportion with wages, with the rise of rent, it 
has been from a different cause. Wages fall or rise as rent 
rises or falls, but interest rises or falls as the supply of capital 
falls or rises in proportion to the demand. 

Now, what would be the effect on the distribution of 
wealth, of the application of the "Single Tax," as the taking 
of land values in taxation is called? 

ON KENT. 

We have seen in Chapters III and IV of Part 2d, that the 
annual value of land is identical with that division of the 
product denominated rent, and that the commercial or ex- 
change value of land is calculated from the annual value; 
therefore taxing land to the extent of its annual value will 
take this part of the wealth produced — rent — for the needs 
of government. We have also seen, in Chapter III, how by- 
taxing land we would make the competition for the use of 
the best land so intense that only the poorer land, but much 
more of that, would remain idle; and as the rent line is at 
that point of productiveness at which there is no competition, 
rent would be reduced to the lowest possible quantity with 
the degree of production — the difference in value between 
such lands as society must resort to to satisfy their needs, in- 
stead of, as now, the difference between the value of the best 
land and that on which the human factor can be maintained. 

ON WAGES AND INTEREST. 

Wages and interest, as one division, being the necessary 
corollary of rent, what reduces rent must increase this por- 
tion. Therefore, the Single Tax, by causing the concentra- 
tion of labor on the most productive lands and leaving the 
less productive free of access, will not only increase this por- 
tion by raising the line that divides rent and wages, called 
by economists the rent line, but also the greater productive- 
ness of labor that is due to closer association. And besides 
this, wages would be increased by the transfer of taxes from 
the various subjects and objects, as at present levied, to land; 
for, at present levied, they are very largely paid out of wages. 
Taxes on capital, which in various ways constitute the larger 
part of present taxes, are ultimately paid by labor, because, 
operating as a penalty to the production of any excess of cap- 
ital, they lessen the production of capital, and, therefore, the 



68 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

competition of it for use, compelling the user of capital (labor) 
to pay not only the tax, but an increased interest on its ac- 
count. I speak of rent, wages and interest only as portions 
of the aggregate product, and not as expressed in terms of 
money; but, of course, under any monetary conditions the 
relative amount in money terms would correspond to the por- 
tion of each. 

ON INTEREST. 

The true apprehension of the law of interest overthrows 
the accepted idea that the single tax would increase the 
rate of interest. It is an unavoidable deduction that it would 
operate to reduce it. Interest being governed by the rela- 
tions of demand and supply of capital, let us first see how 
the single tax would alter these relations. 

The demand for capital in the shape of stocks of goods, 
factories, tools and instruments of production and exchange 
would, of course, increase with an increased production, but 
it would in no way be commensurate to the increased produc- 
tion; for it is an axiom of economics, that the greater the 
scale of production the less proportionately will be the capi- 
tal required — this is. true also of labor. While the demand 
for capital in this respect would increase, it would greatly 
decrease for such forms as homes and furnishings, which now 
constitute a very large part of the aggregate capital. The 
increase of wages together with elimination of the commercial 
value of land would enable any workman to own and furnish 
a home of hfs own. By doing this, a large part, perhaps one- 
half, of what is now capital would cease to be capital; it would 
become wealth, and would earn no interest. This lessening 
of demand for capital would far outweigh any increased de- 
mand for stocks of goods, factories, tools and instruments of 
production. So we see that the demand for capital would 
be greatly lessened. 

Now that the supply of capital would be increased seems 
to require little illustration. Not only would the increased 
production increase the supply of capital, but much of what 
is produced and is now consumed in ostentation, and, perhaps, 
dissipation, would, of necessity, be used as capital. It is, 
in truth, from something like necessity that wealth is con- 
sumed in dissipate living, and the dissipate consumer is really 
more to bo pitied than censured. The magnificent style of 
living indulged in by the enormously rich, would be impos- 
sible were rent taken for public uses; for perhaps one-half 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 69 

of the income of the large leisure class is from, ground rents. 
And, taken as a class, if their incomes were reduced one-half 
their habits of living would compel them to exert themselves 
and use their capital to the fullest extent in production; 
thus not only inducing, but compelling the greatest use, and, 
therefore, the greatest competition of capital. In short, the 
effect of the single tax would be to increase the production 
of wealth and compel the most economical use of it, thereby 
leaving the fullest amount necessary for use as capital. 

Summing up, we see that it would operate to lessen de- 
mand and increase supply; therefore it would reduce interest. 
The competition of capital for use would be fiercest with that 
owned by the leisure class, for that would be their only source 
of income. Where capital is used by the owner, the income 
being both wages and interest, any decrease of interest re- 
sulting from the competition of capital could result only in 
an increase of wages, and would not affect income. But with 
the capitalist only, a decrease in interest would be a decrease 
in income ; and the greater the decrease, the fiercer will be the 
competition of that capital for use, which would eventually 
compel the capitalist to use his own capital. 

That interest would sink to zero is not a reckless guess, 
but a logical deduction. That interest does tend to decrease, 
even now, is most obvious to any one. In the simplest an- 
alysis of the subject, we may see that interest persists only 
because that, in the present distribution of wealth, any excess 
of wealth is always accumulated in the hands of those who 
will not because they need not exert themselves to use it; and, 
of course, it would not be accumulated were not the satisfac- 
tion of a desire — the desire for riches— offered. Under the 
present adjustment, through this desire alone will the pro- 
ductive forces move to produce sufficient capital to supply the 
demand ; hence, we have, and while these conditions last, will 
have interest. 

Interest is not necessary to induce accumulation of capi- 
tal, as some mav think. The increase in the power of pro- 
duction from the use of capital is a much greater induce- 
ment to its accumulation. Interest is only the inducement 
for the accumulation of capital by those who do not want 
to use it. Nor is the advantage in the use of capital the only 
other incentive to its accumulation. People habitually save 
up for future use or the expected rainy day. and this is a con- 
stant fund of capital for use by some other than the owner. 

I do not mean to say that interest would be entirely 
eliminated, for in form it will always exist, but it would be 



70 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



really wages for the transfer of capital. Merchants reckon 
their earnings as such a per cent of their sales; so would hank- 
ers reckon their wages as such a per cent of their loans. I 
mean that as a division of the aggregate production, interest 
would cease. And the conflict between capital and labor 
would be — only a memory. 



ITS GENERAL EFFE< TS. 

The Single Tax would make of the aggregate productiou 
of wealth two natural divisions — rent and wages. The former 
at its lowest possible quantity would be taken to meet 
expenses of government, in lieu of the present taxes, and the 
latter would go to each in the proportion that each com 
tributed, the law of supply and demand fixing the portion. 
It would take nothing from any one. It would sanction pres- 
ent titles to both land and wealth, only taking of the former 
the annual value due to the presence of organized society, 
which would make it impossible for one to receive from am 
other anything for its use, and would be only conforming the 
right of possession to the rights of all proclaimed by their 
existence, the equal right of all to the earth. It would leave 
what of value each produced to the producer, untaxed and to 
be done with as he pleased, so the rights of others are not 
transgressed. 

It would abolish all hurtful trusts and capitalistic com- 
binations by removing the conditions that make them possible. 
They depend, primarily, on the power to monopolize the 
source of the product, and secondarily, on the increasing ten- 
dency of capital to concentrate; and both of these the single 
tax would effectually remove. Only such combinations would 
be possible, and only as far as economy in production would 
warrant. 

It would banish the tendency towards the centralization 
of power, which is ever growing and which destroyed all pre- 
vious civilizations. Centralized power in all times and places 
is based upon and supported by the possession of land — the 
most valuable centers of exchange. By taking this value in 
taxation, we destroy the basis of centralization, and diffuse 
political power. Forms of government would adjust them- 
selves to the new conditions, and need not be bothered much 
about. A Republican form of government can be Republican 
only in form while the basis of political power (land) is pri- 
vate property. And monarchies cannot long survive when 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 71 

we take this away. While standing armies and public debts 
would be the most patent absurdities. 

It would raise the mere laborer above the embruting and 
distorting fear of want, and would place within his reach the 
opportunities of mental and moral development; and in this 
war would cure the vices that are the accompaniments of 
poverty, which is of mind more than of body. It would, also, 
raise the leisure class above the,, sometimes as distorting, 
necessity of devising ways of uselessly employing their 
faculties. It would, in short, establish between men the 
primitive equality and self-dependency with all the advan- 
tages and powers that have been acquired through ages of 
progress, compelling all men to bow to the edict of nature, — 
the primeval curse which is by progress turned into a bless- 
ing — that "man shall eat bread by the sweat of his brow." 
It would compel all men to exert their powers in order to 
satisfy their desires. 

We would be rid of both extremes of society, the idle poor 
and the idle rich, who are a menace and danger to not only 
each other, but all society. We would have tamed greed by 
abolishing want, for greed is but the other's reflex. 

It would not, as many suppose, lessen the incentive to 
endeavor; if altered at all, it would be increased/ Instead 
of pursuing wealth, as men one day did power, Y excite ad- 
miration, or, perhaps, envy, which in all time has been the 
real object of endeavor, men would strive to outdo one an- 
other in acquiring knowledge and the power that comes of it. 
Wealth would be pursued not as an end, but only as a means; 
but the end sought would make the production of wealth pro- 
gressively easier. It would throw down the barriers to wealth 
and the satisfaction of material desires, that have, no doubt, 
been powerful incentives to the effort of progress; but it would 
raise up before mankind the true goal of human progress — 
the infinite marvels of nature — to know of the Creator as far 
as it is possible through contact with this world of matter 
and energy. It would cause genius and talent to multiply, 
perceptions to deepen and reason to reign supreme; and 
would ultimately awaken in all mankind that full conscious- 
ness of self, of the indestructible entity that really consti- 
tutes man, which, perhaps, only a few feel. It would bring 
about that reverent feeling, the desideratum of all religionists, 
which in this age of transition from believing to realizing can 
only come from the triumph of reason, which is not so much the 
conquering of nature as merely finding our proper place in 
the great scheme of creation. 



72 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE ARTERIES AXD NERVES OF SOCIETY. 

The question concerning the disposition of the avenues of 
communication and exchange, which largely occupies the at- 
tention of the public at present, I have not directly treated of 
in the distribution of wealth; but their values except what 
they receive from the labor required to construct and equip 
them are a form of land values, therefore they are not ex- 
cluded from the factors to production. Telegraphs, telephones, 
rail and water ways, etc., are the ways and means through 
which the component elements of the social body are nour- 
ished and their wants supplied. They are to the social body 
as the nerves and arteries are to the huaaan body. 

They connect or bring closer together one location with 
another. By so doing, they increase the value of the locations 
so connected; and as the charges for their use are increased 
or decreased, the values of the locations which they connect 
decrease or increase. Their values, in excess of the cost of 
construction and equipment, are only appurtenances to land 
values, just as a highway is an appurtenance to the land to 
which it is a means of access. And this value arises just as 
do the values of land, it is the capitalization of the annual 
earnings. 

They are, in fact, identical with land values, but their 
nature being non-competitive, and sound economy, make im- 
possible the satisfactory dealing with them in the way we can 
with the land values. By taking in taxation the full annual 
earnings of this value, commonly called franchise value, we 
could, with the single tax which would operate to reduce in- 
terest, take all the earnings of such property except what 
w T ould compensate for labor and capital expended in operation 
and maintenance. While such taxation, which is at present 
the proper treatment of the question, would not increase the 
cost of service, as such is maintained at about that point 
which will yield the greatest net earnings in spite of all 
attempts ai government regulation, it is no solution of this 
question. Any charges for the use of these public necessi- 
ties in excess of the cost of the service, places that service at 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



73 



a premium with all other services, and would operate as a 
discouragement to their use. Thus, for instance, if the use 
of a railroad would save .one two dollars, and the cost of such 
service, from either monopoly or taxation, were two and one- 
half dollars it would be unprofitable to use the railroad and 
the wealth of the community would be lessened to the extent 
of two dollars, or more energy must be expended; but if the 
service were only one and one-half dollars there would be a 
gain of one-half dollar in that exchange of services. 

All such property properly belongs, as do all land values, 
to society as a whole. That they do is in perfect accord with 
first perceptions, and if we only free ourselves from the popu- 
lar conceptions of the exclusive ownership of land, we can 
easily see this. The only consideration as to the disposition 
of these public necessities is that of the highest and best 
use for society under the conditions existing at any time. 
Nor can this be in conflict with the best interests of each. 
When, with the adoption of the single tax, we virtually assert 
the public ownership of land, it will follow as a natural 
sequence that we will also assume complete control of these 
nerves and arteries through which the wants of the members 
of society are supplied and their strength and vigor sus- 
tained, because this will be necessary to the highest develop- 
ment of social life. When the great and widespread privilege 
of land monopoly is destroyed, the lesser privileges will not be 
tolerated. And* the complete control of the avenues of com- 
munication and exchange carries with it the life or death 
to association, which is too great a power to be thought 
of being left in the hands of a few. 

While all avenues of communication and exchange are 
in their nature monopolies pure and simple, their effects can- 
not be reached except through the control of that monopoly 
of which they are only adjuncts. For governments to own 
and operate them while land values are appropriated by in- 
dividuals would not only not tend to solve the industrial prob- 
lem, but would actually add new complications. By decreas- 
ing the cost of the use of these social necessities, we would 
but increase the portion of products that could be demanded 
for rent, i. e., raise the value of land; and we would in no 
way tend to raise the level of production at which the equa- 
tion between supply and demand could be maintained. W e 
would onlv add new duties to governments that have grown 
weak, because their nutriment is received by taxing the pro- 
cesses by which the strength and vigor of their component 
parts are nourished, and the complicated and onerous duties 



74 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

that are evolved from this. And it is generally conceded that 
Eepublican forms are weaker in this respect than are monarch- 
ical, which is, to me, proof of their superiority; just as the 
greater susceptibility to disorders of the human body testifies 
to its superiority over the mere animal. That sensitiveness in- 
creases and adaptableness decreases as the scale of existence 
rises, is not less true of social than physical life. A des- 
potic government readily adapts itself to what would shatter 
a Eepublican form. 

The logical, and perhaps the only way in which this prob- 
lem can be treated while land values are appropriated by in- 
dividuals, is through the power of taxation. If this is exer- 
cised far enough it will tend to eliminate the monopoly or 
franchise value and make the transfer to the government more 
equitable and just. As to whether they should then be oper- 
ated as well as controlled by the government is a question 
that may well be studied; but, at any rate, their operation by 
the government should be only as a last resort; I am inclined 
to believe that if the government owned the ways exclusively 
and established one rate for all, about the cost of service on the 
least valuable parts, letting the service at certain intervals 
through free and open bidding to individuals or corporations, 
we would secure the most economical and best service. And 
in the same way could the building of new lines be made to 
conform to sound economy. If the monopoly of service at 
legal rates were insured for a term of year when the cost of 
construction should be repaid, new lines would be built as 
soon as the demand for them would warrant the expenditure. 

I am well aware that the question of public ownership of 
railway, telegraph and telephone lines, means of public light- 
ing, heating, etc., is far more advanced than that of equal 
rights to natural opportunities — land. But this is the course 
reason invariably takes. Central truths are apprehended 
only through derivative ones. We reach the ultimate cause 
through the intermediate causes; and the differences of politi- 
cal economists are due to their not pushing their inquiry to the 
ultimate cause of social phenomena. That these intermediate 
causes should each attract considerable attention and arouse 
considerable effort toward removing them, need excite no sur- 
prise; for if we only observe facts of history, we will see that 
it has ever been so. Questions of public policy have been 
settled time after time only to present themselves again in 
more complicated form, or be pressed aside by other ques- 
tions. And any settlement of a question that arises from a 
derivative or intermediate cause can have no satisfactory re- 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 



75 



suit while the deeper cause remains; but,when the final or ulti- 
mate cause is removed, the difficulty' of solving those second- 
ary questions, which seem so perplexing when viewed inde- 
pendently, will entirely disappear. 

CONCLUSION. 

Thought is the first faculty of man; to express it is one 
of his first desires; to spread it, his dearest privilege. — Abbe 
Raynal. 

However much we may elevate ourselves in mind to 
view the phenomena of social life, or however lightly we may 
think of social life, we cannot extinguish the thought of in- 
dividual welfare. The dominant inherent self-interest with 
which we are endowed will tolerate no suppression of regard 
for self. It is impossible to reconcile the idea that one can 
be only at the expense of the other, with the belief in the 
unity and harmony of things; yet in current thought and 
speech we meet it everywhere. 

We use the term sacrifice in a way that indicates the veri- 
est baseness of thought — to sacrifice individual welfare for the 
public good. This is not usually meant literally, but is often 
taken so, and many believe that only at great and voluntary 
individual sacrifice can society be lifted, or, even, saved from 
falling. Sacrifice! Is it sacrifice to attempt to satisfy those 
nobler desires, to lift the lowly, to strangle greed and combat 
wrong while there are yet the possibilities of more lowly satis- 
factions? Was it sacrifice that caused all the advancement 
that kas resulted in our present state? Was it sacrifice that' 
systematized language, discovered and explained the laws 
and forces of nature, enslaved steam, and called the lightning 
to the service of man? Was all this sacrifice? If so, is not 
all effort sacrifice? All this was done from the same motives 
that would impel one to cross a room to get a drink of water — 
to satisfy a desire. They were not sacrifices, but services. 
The efforts of sages and pkilosophers were not only no less 
gratifying in their results tkan that of the sensualist, but in- 
finitely more so. The satisfaction of having done something 
uncommon and which will earn the lasting gratitude of man- 
kind is an infinitely deep and fuller satisfaction than that 
which is but momentarily felt and affects only the subject of 
the desire. Great satisfactions require jjreat effort, and 
though at times the results may seem doubtful, this is why 
they are so rare. 



76 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

In this work there might he what would suggest to the 
casual reader something akin to fatalism, something that the 
careless observer might take as excusing indolence on the 
ground that social progress goes on regardless of individual 
effort; but there is in the preceding pages anything but that. 
Progress is dependent on human will, but the human will is 
only an instrument. It is impelled to action by the condi- 
tions, and these are ever growing in force. It is impressed 
into service under the penalty of suffering, which is, perhaps, 
but another way of saying that it moves in obedience to de- 
sires. 

The individual life, proper, is not merely the form that 
becomes animated for a time and is endowed with desires 
necessary to the continuance of its kind; but that inde- 
scribable something which our senses cannot perceive, and 
which evidences its existence by desires that know no bounds, 
the satisfactions of which, infinite in quantity, have no ma- 
terial existence, but, like the thing itself, is mental or spiritual. 
This thing, the mind of man, grows and develops to the end 
of material existence if nourished and exercised, just as the 
physical powers grow and develop during a certain period if 
properly nourished and exercised. And in this world of won- 
ders just becoming known, in which each new discovery only 
multiplies the possibility of other discoveries, in which each 
new satisfaction gives rise to other desires, in which ques- 
tions not of power, but of ways are presenting themselves and 
pressing irresistibly for solution, there is not only no lack of 
opportunity to exercise and, therefore, develop the mind, but 
the forces that actually compel it are rapidly multiplying. 

^A'hen we perceive what individual life really is, a load 
of darkness is lifted and the light breaks in upon the rela- 
tions of individual and social life. In the complex questions 
that are presenting themselves with increasing force, there is 
not only a great and noble work to be done, but in their solu- 
tion, a deep, grand and sublime gratification is offered — a sat- 
isfaction that must surely surpass the average mortal's power 
of conception. 

We an- apt to grumble at the lot which has befallen us, 
at the hardships wo must endure, the trials and perplexities 
of life we must meet; we incline to case and would avoid 
effort, but in the one there is extinction, oblivion, in the other 
there is reward, the natural effect of the effort. Of the 
heaven of rest there is reason to doubt. Host! It is incon- 
ceivable except as associated with effort. Not rest, but relief 
we sock' — relief from the pressure of desires that know not sat- 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 77 

isfaction, which can be accomplished only by the birth of those 
other desires that transcend them, and which even now may be 
seen to glow in their noble splendor. 

But of a place of torment! Look around today! at the 
vain pursuit of satisfactions that only multiply as they are 
satisfied, and taunt to increased efforts those who pursue them 
as an end. It is not a place but a state or condition of mind, 
the result of misguided and fruitless efforts in various direc- 
tions. The taunting and tantalizing thought of opportunites 
lost, of energies wasted, of truths unlearned, which, perhaps, 
could only be learned at a certain stage of growth. And 
while imprisoned in this form of clay, who can say that our 
course for eternity may not be shaped? 

The hardships of today are those of mind. The need of 
great physical endurance is past. The troubles and anxieties 
that beset mankind are, if we but realize it, great possible 
blessings, a means of elevation to increased powers and wider 
spheres; but if we avoid or ignore them they only crush us by 
their weight. The more that social life suffers from neglect, 
the greater is the opportunity for those who will seek the 
cause and lay it before their fellow-man. Nature demands 
no impossibilities. To reform the world is a task so stupend- 
ous that the mind of man can hardly conceive of its possibility. 
Man's efforts are, indeed, trifling; but think of the balancing 
forces of good and evil, of truth and error, of justice and in- 
justice — the former called out by the latter. The forces for 
advancement developed in defending against the forces that 
threaten dissolution — great powers developed but neutralized. 
These latter forces, evolved by conditions that forbid normal 
and healthy development, would cease to be were the condi- 
tions favorably altered; and the former would be turned to 
advancement. The truth that nature impressed upon some 
will, also, be impressed upon others. The conditions are ever 
becoming more favorable to its recognition — aye! — compelling 
its acceptance. 

The truth that I have cleared to my own mind, and, in 
this work, tried to show unto others, has been a source of 
deep gratification; doubts have been cleared away and fears 
dispelled, hopes have arisen and a faith confirmed. How 
pleasing to know that through all the turmoil and conflict of 
human progress the course has ever been upward, that even 
the basest passions have geen utilized, that service for right 
is not merely the effect of orei-sensitiveness, but is called out 
by the presence of wrong, and how, in the persistence and 
growth of wrong, in spite of man's efforts to restrain it by 



•f D. 



78 HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 

dired force, there is cause for not fear, but hope. How grati- 
fying to fee] thai the much feared destructive forces evolved 
by human greed, have .mown to be so terrible as to make those 
who would use them fear them most: that in -their great 
danger is, alter all, their real safety. Ami to behold the 
thoroughness of nature's work. The foundation must be laid 
before the superstructure is raised. The material wants must 
be provided for before the awakening of that higher existence. 
The ] towers and forces grasped, but in such a way that their 
full benefits are withheld and cannot be realized except by 
bestowing upon all their common inheritance, for the power 
that comes from thought, like thought itself, is multiplied by 
being divided, now encouraging to know that every effort 
for right is a positive force for advancement, and, though it 
may never be recorded in the pages of history, leaves an inef- 
faceable mark on our real being and cannot be lost in its effect 
on society; that effort is the very essence of life, and that to 
cease in effort is but to decline in power or waste our ener- 
gies, the secret of all the seemingly wasted lives, the 
essence of the "Thou shalt not's," of the Ten Command- 
ments, for the violation of these is only the natural sequence 
of ungoverned efforts. Human energies must have vent, and if 
not directed for good either by the conditions or consciously, 
they will naturally be expended fruitlessly or injuriously. 

The truth which this work but poorly shows, is the cen- 
tral truth of all discoveries. It is the heart and core of social 
science, that science which is the complement of all other 
sciences, for only through it can their fruits be reached; and, 
on account of its direct interest and simplicity, it is the science 
for all mankind. This truth is, after all, only the truth that 
all men in all times have in some manner perceived, but which 
words have failed to express. To the realization of ir. 
prophecy and revelations have always pointed — the ultimate 
reign of peace, harmony and good will — and which only in 
comparatively late days has ever been clouded. 

It is a notable fact that skepticism in this respect is of 
comparatively recent origin. But this is not strange nor 
should il excite wonder. When nature bestows a higher 
quality, she partly withdraws the lower in order that the other 
may develop. The weak physical powers of man compelled 
him to exercise thai higher intelligence with which he is en- 
dowed. As this power develops, the power of endurance 
wanes. As consciousness wakens and reason begins to grow, 
the simple faith weakens. The doubts and sneers at ancient 
prophecies and revelations are of minds thrown upon their 



HARMONY VS. DISCORD. 79 

own resources and hesitating to use them. The prophetic 
power of man has faded from the earth, and in its stead is 
developing a vastly superior power, a power of which that 
was only the reflection. The sunlight of reason is breaking 
over the world, and the moonlight of prophecy, the luminary 
of the night of social evolution, makes no shadow. 

JOHN J. DAILY. 



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